Mid-30s = Middle Aged?

[PoetryLover]

I was thumbing through Gail Sheehy's book Passages when I noticed the words: "The middle of the thirties is literally the midpoint of life." I think the book was written in the seventies. Does this still apply today? At 34 I feel young still. I recently had my first baby and plan to have a couple more. But middle aged? Seriously? I think of mid to upper forties and fifties as being midlife.

I'm interested in hearing others' thoughts on this. Reading it kind of shocked me. I'm fairly speechless. I mean, I guess if the life expectancy is 70 then 35 would be midlife. These days I think the life expectancy is older than that, but I'm not sure by how much.

[Annie Mac]

I think "middle-aged" means more than just the middle of one's life. It has many connotations, different to different people. For me, middle-aged brings up visions of almost empty-nesters with their mortgages very nearly paid off. People who prefer quiet nights in vs raucous nights out. Responsible people, like my mom. Hey! Just had a thought! Maybe "middle-aged" always mean our parents, not us. Even when they become seniors, we're still just kids. I mean, I'm just about 40. It's about 6 weeks away for me. Still, I don't consider myself middle-aged, although I know that's how I might be described by a stranger.

[EviesMom]

I believe the average life expectancy in somewhere around 70. However, that takes into account many early in life deaths, accidents, etc. As you get older, your life expectancy actually goes up. So if you make it to 80, you have a better chance of making it to 83 than if you're 70, percentage wise.

[sunnmama]

I think of middle-aged at a middle phase of life, not a literal midpoint. The middle of young and old, so to speak.

Childhood and adolescence take up the first 20 years.

20s-40s are young

50s-60s "middle aged"

70+ elder

[PoetryLover]

Thanks! I feel silly now. But I'm glad I'm not middle-aged yet! LOL!

ETA: now that I look over my post, I see that I put middle age in there. The author just said midpoint of one's life and when I saw that I saw middle aged. I'm very tired today...

[ElliesMomma]

i remember people my age talking about the same thing when we were mid-30's. i am now 42. of course, we all still feel "young." my DHs is going on 60. my mom is in her 60s. they both say that the 40's are a good time in life.

enjoy your youth and quit looking at that old book!

[sweeetpea]

My daughter's definition of life:

0-20: kid
20-50: grown up
50-80: middle aged
80+: old

But I have known a fair number of "old" grown ups, and plenty of youthful middle-agers. I think a lot of it is about attitude and how you take care of yourself, physically, mentally and emotionally.

[Vaske]

I think it varies from person to person. For people who started their careers and families in their early-to-mid-twenties, their nest will be starting to empty in their later thirties or so, and they'll be moving on to the next phase of their lives.

For people like my husband and I, who were in our very late twenties when we got into careers, marriage, and kids, mid-thirties is still a time of young children, diapers, and struggling to get established financially. The midlife transition is going to come a little later for us, and probably I'll be close to sixty before our nest is completely empty.

[RiverTam]

Some researchers use 35 as the start of middle-age and some people use 40 as the start of middle age.

I (arbitrarily) think of 40 as the start of middle age, because life expectancy in the US is pretty close to 80 now.

(It was a shocker for me, too. I wasn't too sure that I was ready to be a real grown-up.)

[Viola]

I was just thinking of this the other day. I think people push middle-age out as far as 60 and anything after 60's is senior citizen, but I tend to think of middle age as being in the 40s when you may still have teens at home. I'm 43 and have a 6 and 11 year old and consider myself middle-aged.

I think for me, I realized I was middle-aged when I saw my nephew's haircut on facebook and had to stop myself from asking him how he doesn't get beat up at school with hair like that. I mean I totally don't get boy's hairstyles these days, so that's a sure sign I'm disconnecting from youth.

I felt like 35-38 or so was really a peak time for me in terms of things going on physically, and the years since have felt like a decline.

[Purple Sage]

To me, the 40s are middle aged. I felt like a kid in my 20s, and now that I'm almost 35, I feel very much like an adult but definitely not middle aged. I'm sure I won't feel like I'm middle aged in five years, but I'll accept the fact nonetheless.

[bonamarq]

Well from someone who just turned 43 - I think I just hit middle age - my dd is almost 7 - life is good/comfortable but my body just suddenly feels older - I felt young up until the last year or so - maybe it's the 10 lbs that have just magically & suddenly appeared despite trying to be BETTER about food choices (and they are already pretty good in my opionion) Still exercising, playing softball, yoga, biking etc - but I have to admit to suddenly looking and feeling older

It's a little strange - not horrible - and I struggle whether to accept this or fight it off with every breath of my being - I would never have plastic surgery but I sometimes think a breast reduction would be really nice (I'm a 36D/D?)

I think if I can get to acceptance it might be really liberating!

[Ravenlunatic]

For me, middle 40's (I'm 46) is the begining of middle age. At 43/44 ish I felt the same as I did at 35 or even younger, but there have been a lot of changes to my body and therefore my life in the past 2 years. I would consider myself middle aged now and I see a big difference between me and my younger piers in their early 40's.

My DH who just turned 53 has seen a lot of changes in his life also in the past 2 years, but prior to that he was keeping up with the 30 year old guys just fine... I think it varies between men and women and also between people, but only slightly...