Here is May already, almost halfway through the year, and my Christmas decorations still haven’t made it back to the cupboard – I found an Elf still on the Shelf and a reindeer hiding in a flowerpot, where the plant looks like it has swallowed it whole.

Perception of time

I have a birthday coming up – it’s OK, I’m not hinting for flowers or presents, but it seems the years go by faster the older you get, and things that I thought happened 5 years ago were in reality closer to 10 or more years ago. The perception that time speeds up as people age is apparently a well-documented phenomenon, and while a year feels long to a child, it feels significantly faster to an adult.

Ageing Symptoms

I can see the physical changes of the gaining years, and catching a glimpse of myself in a shop window, I see this grumpy old woman staring at me, and I am sometimes shocked that it’s me! But I see the signs of ageing, such as grey hair and wrinkles that I am sure weren’t there last time I looked, and of course, I can feel the creak and groan of more painful joints.

I catch myself smugly saying things like ‘back in my day’ as an expression of distaste for, say, more modern things, perhaps phones, TV or fashion. I then realise that ‘back in my day’ was probably at least two decades ago – three if I am honest.

I recoil in shock when I realise that my children are grown-ups now. I have cut the umbilical cord of close parenting and can stand back to let them make their own mistakes. They are now starting to get their own wrinkles too, and I find it hard to believe that they are fully functioning adults that I am no longer responsible for.

Older and free?

Anyway, now I am older, and I gleefully thought my child-rearing days were over. I thought I was free, I could do whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted. I could get up leisurely. Be able to leave the house with no flapping over toys or favourite blankets. No nappies or feeds to be carried. No babysitters, no constantly being on call to find missing socks or slippers.

Credits: Pexels; Author: Andrea Piacquadio;

But now, The Husband isn’t very well, and it seems I have found another child in the house. Here I go again - monitoring drugs, checking appointments, being supportive by encouraging eating and drinking properly, and addressing behavioural changes. It’s like coping with that child going through the growing-up process – and he is big enough to verbalise his needs – ‘where are my reading glasses?’, ‘I need my phone, have you moved it?’- and of course, I am still looking for missing socks and slippers. Not his fault, bless him.

Optimist

But you have to be an optimist. Nobody expects me to run anywhere (except my cardiologist), I am resigned to failing eyesight and wearing glasses (after vanity caused me years of wearing contacts that I can’t even see to put in any more), and I have reached a point where I accept my age - and maybe even brag about it.

I read somewhere that getting older is a natural part of life that hopefully we all experience. While some may view ageing as a negative thing, there are many reasons why getting older can actually be good – you can learn from past mistakes, embrace new experiences and learn to appreciate the life you have. Getting old is a privilege, not a right, and Bette Davis once said: ‘Old age is no place for sissies’ – and those who are here know how true this is!