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When does middle age begin and end?

(68 Posts)
kittylester Fri 05-Dec-14 12:03:13

I said to someone the other day that 'a middle aged woman with steam coming out her ears isn't a pretty sight' and wondered why he gave me a quizzical look. Then it dawned on me that, at 65, I should be calling myself an old woman confused

If 60 Is the new 40. What am I?

jinglbellsfrocks Fri 05-Dec-14 12:14:15

You are late middle aged. smile

jinglbellsfrocks Fri 05-Dec-14 12:15:53

That's if you really have to give yourself a label!

#ageistoldstick! hmm

anniezzz09 Fri 05-Dec-14 12:54:13

ha, ha, well at 61 I definitely feel old! It's partly that business of having become invisible and it's partly the massive changes that have taken place around us from the number of languages spoken on our streets (not racist just a comment) to the internet and the wizardry available at our fingertips, all those gadgets and phones. I do my best to keep up but I feel ancient!

Oh yes, and when I go into my local bike shop and I don't want a £1500 pick-it-up-by-a-fingertip bike and I'm not wearing the latest cycling gear and the assistant tries to carefully explain how locks work and to sell me a helmet, I feel old then too! smile

I think middle aged is all those smooth skinned 40 year olds looking as though they rule the world - they probably do!

bee63 Fri 05-Dec-14 13:04:30

Middle aged is between 40 & 60 I'd say.

thatbags Fri 05-Dec-14 13:07:11

Whenever one likes. Most people seem to liketo deny it for a while and then a few years later they deny old-aging. C'est la vie.

jinglbellsfrocks Fri 05-Dec-14 13:22:56

No! No way is my 46 year old daughter middle aged. That is just not right.

jinglbellsfrocks Fri 05-Dec-14 13:24:13

As for the little younger one! She is definitely young at 42.

bee63 Fri 05-Dec-14 13:26:17

I'm 51 & already starting to feel a bit knackered grin

jinglbellsfrocks Fri 05-Dec-14 13:50:56

You are just approaching middle aged bee. so pull your socks up wink

bee63 Fri 05-Dec-14 14:01:08

Ah thank you jing smile great name btw!

annsixty Fri 05-Dec-14 14:02:43

What nonsense you all talk. Most of you are either young or early middle aged and I am( perhaps) late middle aged at just 77 tchgrin

Agus Fri 05-Dec-14 14:15:07

If 60 is the new 40 then my DDs are 16 and 19! Sounds about right shock

Lapwing Fri 05-Dec-14 14:20:42

Physically there times when I definitely feel more than middle aged at 62 but in my head I am still a young thing. smile

soontobe Fri 05-Dec-14 15:17:52

I have been having a think about this.
If we live to say 84 years old, the middle section is technically between 29 - 56!! [0-28, 29-56, 57-84].

I sort of woke up to how old I was when someone said that if we live to 70 [0-10 is monday, 11-20 is tuesday etc], I was already on Friday!
I sort of then took stock of where I was at.
I am now on Saturday, gulp!

annodomini Fri 05-Dec-14 15:57:52

A young person in her 50s told me the other day that I don't look 74. Byron, mischievous as always, said:
A man is as old as he's feeling;
A woman's as old as she looks.

Thanks, your Lordship!

Mishap Fri 05-Dec-14 16:02:06

Middle age ends the day your first child reaches 40 - today!!! It's a hard pill to swallow!

soontobe Fri 05-Dec-14 16:06:54

Oh dear, Mishap!
Happy Birthday to your daughter.

ninathenana Fri 05-Dec-14 16:09:48

Oooh, as a late starter I'll be 73 when DD reaches 40.
So I'll go with that Mishap grin

kittylester Fri 05-Dec-14 16:10:06

Flip - I've been old for three years then! No wonder he gave me a funny look!!

rockgran Fri 05-Dec-14 16:34:16

It is moveable according to the situation. If I want to do something I am only middle aged and perfectly capable. If I don't want to do something I am old and can't be expected to. Simple!grin

petallus Fri 05-Dec-14 17:18:15

Both DDs are in their forties so I suppose, at 71, I am old.

But surely not as old as an 85 year old?shock

numberplease Fri 05-Dec-14 17:49:00

I`m really, really old, my eldest child is 51 today!! Yikes!!

tiggypiro Fri 05-Dec-14 18:07:48

It depends on whether we believe what we see in the mirror (grey bits, saggy bits etc) or what we know to be the truth (fit, slim, lots of energy etc). I'm sure I'm one of the truthful ones so nowhere near being middle aged !

Nonu Fri 05-Dec-14 18:18:30

I think it is nonsense to say Middle age ends when your children reach 40!

Basically it is all a state of mind , I have met people of 40 who are OLD & people of 80 who are YOUNG, make of that what you will.

It is most certainly dependent on the right RMA and genes of course !

tchsmile