On Turning 40

I turned 40 a week ago...still sounds weird when I say it out loud. It's a complete cliche, I know, but I don't feel 40. And I think people are being genuine when they say I don't look 40. But, I am 40. I'm a 40-year-old mother of three (kinda) little kids. My middle daughter, whom I'll call Smartie, has made sure that I don't forget how very, very elderly I am indeed becoming. At my 40th birthday party - an all-out bash with a caterer and a band (just kidding...it was a family dinner at my parent's house), my girls and their cousin put on M.iley C.yrus and danced in the basement to M.iley's version of "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun." While I think M.iley is adorable (and her dad is hot), any child of the 80's knows that M.iley's version is pretty sucky compared to Cyndi Lauper's. So...I'm explaining to my kids how M.iley is not the first to record this particular song. At first they do not believe me, but a quick download from I.Tu.nes convinced them. So...I'm rockin' out to Cyndi, and Smartie innocently asks me if this song, "is the one from the olden days!" So, there ya go - 1984: the new definition of the olden days. Then, a few days later Smartie and I are talking about beauty and I was explaining the expression that "beauty is in the eye of the beholder." I explained how people can, and often do, become more beautiful (or uglier, if warranted) the more you get to know them. She asked how I knew that and I said that I've been alive for 40 years and it's just one of the things I've noticed. She looked at me, and asked, very seriously, "How many years do you have left?" A pretty big question for a six-year-old, even if she is soon to be seven. And it brings of the topic for a more serious post on another day.