You know you are getting old when ...

You know you are getting old when ...

1. Your child asks you what a CD is and wonders how it ever fitted into an ipod.
2. You start to find the television show 'Loose Women' uncomfortable viewing.
3. You realise the 'blond' bits in your hair can't possibly be blond because you're brunette.
4. Your child asks you if you had white teeth when you were younger.
5. The market research guy asks if you would be very offended if he asked your age.
6. You start tweeting that the skirts on the contestants in #Dorothy are just too short.
7. You realise that even your younger sister has little memory of Margaret Thatcher.
8. The reality hits you that the country could soon be run by someone not much older than you.
9. The ache in your left knee can't be the result of your latest jog around the park because you never jog.
10. You query if you need a more expensive brand of anti-wrinkle cream.
11. You conclude that Topshop is for teenagers.
12. The clothes in Marks & Spencer suddenly look surprisingly durable, and you make a note for future reference.
13. You pay greater attention to washing instructions when buying clothes.
14. A stint of gardening suddenly seems a sensible form a exercise.
15. A reduced subscription offer to Cosmopolitan magazine no longer appeals.

I'm calling this the birthday effect, when suddenly that extra year seems to make a lot of difference.

Comments

[MuddynoSugar]

All so true. Somebody and work didn't know who Genesis was the other day. I wasn't a big fan but they were really famous, right?...Oh and one of my team told me I was the same age as her Dad! That lifted my spirits no end..Harumph!
Think of yourself as wiser rather than older. (Said some really old person)
Sorry, not helping...

[Susie]

LOL-my list is different but can so relate.

[Very Bored Housewife]

Top shop is for teenagers and skinny ones at that. Loose Women has always made me feel uncomfortable especially when Sherry Houston is on it, (Can't believe she's a Notts Lass). I need to bypass the wrinkle cream completely and go for a full facelift!

[jay]

I hit three of those. That only puts me at about 45, right?

Awesome.

[Ellen A]

Funny list Rosie. I'm ticking most of those. Like realising that colouring your hair is no longer optional!
If the Lib Dems win the election then I'll be older than the leader (not much mind) for the first time.
And I've found Good Housekeeping is actually much more interesting and relevent than Cosmo!

[april]

GAH - birthday tomorrow - am vaguely worried...

[TheMadHouse]

Knowing and signing all the words to the songs on Radio 2!

[muummmeeeee!]

Oh my God this list is SO spot on!

[nappyvalleygirl]

Ha! All of those things and more. Particularly with the election coming up - Nick Clegg was in the same class at school as my husband's slightly older brother, which is making us all feel old....

[notSupermum]

All true, but in my case my children were recently agog when I showed them my collection of vinyl records!! Trying to explain how they were played was quite funny actually. And point 8 is even worse for me, because Cameron and Clegg are both younger than me by several years. Oh god...*goes off to search for sharp knife*

[Forever Learning]

Excellent - loved this post. Only today I tweeted about the length of the dress of someone on tv! Oh dear. :)

[Heather]

ha ha ha, brilliant list. so true, sad but true.

[Catharine Withenay]

Oh yes, oh yes, oh yes...

[Victoria Foord]

Good list. Also ticking that box on some questionnaire that puts you into the next age group - yikes 40-45 !! Whaaaaat.

[Expat Mum]

Over here in the States it all starts when the twenty-somethings call you "Ma'am". A real sign of respect. Makes me want to slap 'em all.

[Brit in Bosnia]

Liking Radio 2, finding all girls wear skirts that are too short, remembering all the fashions (and songs!) from the first time around, feeling like a grumpy old woman, getting pedantic about grammer, realising that people who are talking about getting old are a good decade younger than me. Embrace the experience. I'm a year older now too, I think my birthday is a few days after yours.

[stigmum]

You've just wrenched me into the real world! I get reminders now and then (switching on ITV at lunchtime, walking past Top Shop, spending ages in M&S..oh damn, all of it!)A concise, accurate post Rosie but I shan't get rid of my denim mini, not yet, I'm in the "protest" bubble!

[Metropolitan Mum]

Ohhh, Rosie :) I hear you. I found myself tut-tutting in dismay as a bunch of dolled up (they looked slutty, really!) teenage girls passed me. One of them was SMOKING and they were 14 maximum!!
xx forever your grumpy old Met Mum :)

[Nova]

Oh dear I could tick so many of those boxes....I'm getting twitchy because it's my birthday in July...not long now and another year older! Grrr. Great post. :0)

[Crystal Jigsaw]

Fantastic post. Very true indeed. I've been faced with these myself recently. I was also thinking about the Cameron fella running the country and wondering just how many "months" older than me he is. Quite worrying really!

CJ xx

[Vegemitevix]

LOL must be something in the air! But I'm NOT going to call myself a middle youth! It's really bad when your kids get on Singstar and do the oldies...songs from your teens! ;-p

[Surprise Mum]

I gave up my cosmo subscription at 30 when I realised I had read all the saucy bits more than twice. (But the guys in my life should be very grateful for the 13 years I subscribed)

Oh, and I'm selling all my CDs.

[Iota]

Deep breath, Rosie, and then in a few more years, you won't even notice, and if you do, you won't care.

[Rosie Scribble]

Thanks Iota, funny thing is, I think I know that you are right because already a lot of those little things don't really bother me. The odd 'blond' hair? No longer the big deal it once was.

[Rosie Scribble]

I like the idea of wiser rather than older. Genesis? Some sort of band? Don't worry, I remember them well!

[Rosie Scribble]

Sherry Houston is a Notts lass? I didn't realise that. Yikes! I think I went off Loose Women a few years ago and I'm sure some of those presenters are older than me!

[Rosie Scribble]

You only hit three? Then you must be in your mid-twenties! ;)

[Rosie Scribble]

Ooh, Happy Birthday! Hope you've had a lovely day. April is a good month for a birthday, April! xx

[Rosie Scribble]

Ellen, I received a subscription offer to Cosmopolitan yesterday (which triggered this post!) and a subscrption offer to Good Housekeeping this morning. The latter option actually appealed more. Clearly some marketing company out there does not know what box to put me in!!

[Rosie Scribble]

I am convinced that anyone wishing to run the country should be at least 20 years older than me. Sadly that isn't the case anymore. I will just have to assume that these politicians are getting younger!

[Rosie Scribble]

After explaining CDs to my daughter, can you imagine what she would say if I mentioned the subject of vinyl records? She's be looking at my ipod with even greater confusion!

[Rosie Scribble]

Oh yes. There is nothing worse than going up into the next age category. Recently I was looking for my date of birth in an online document and found myself scrolling down the page for what felt like an age!

[Rosie Scribble]

I absolutely adore your "Makes me want to slap 'em all" line. I think we would get on!

[Rosie Scribble]

Emily, I have concluded that the best thing is to embrace it, yet everything you say is so true. All girls seem to wear skirts that are too short and I remember all those songs from first time around. You are so right about grammar too. I tut at all mis-placed apostrophes. There is a sign near our house that says Free MOT's. I want that apostrophe GONE!

[Rosie Scribble]

The protest bubble sounds a good one. You hang onto that denium mini, Stigmum. I'll dig out my own and join you!

[Rosie Scribble]

So pleased it is not just me Met Mum. And now we both have our own #grumpymood hash tag! We've started a club!

[Rosie Scribble]

It is even more worrying when they sing those songs and are completely unaware that they were first released many many years ago. Yikes!

[Rosie Scribble]

Your comment is hilarious. It's enough to make me wonder if maybe I should have read Cosmpolitan up until the age of 30! Is it too late?
*rushes off to retrieve the subscription offer from the bin*

[If I Could Escape]

Well, here's another one. You should have seen the look on my middle son't face when he asked me what my mobile phone was like when I was a kid and I told him they hadn't been invented yet. How very dare he indeed?

[Barbara]

My little sister told me she liked a song the other day and when I heard it I realised it was a remix of a song I rememberd from first time round. I hate that.