Middle-Aged
Well, it happened.
Being in my 20s shielded me from understanding what it's like at 30 and above, but I had a crash course in 5th hour today. Let me explain what took place.
One of my students, after hearing the word scallops, asked me what that was. After I told her, she told me that scallops are a "middle-aged woman's" food. After I finished laughing, I asked her to elaborate on her interesting extrapolation. I also was curious about her definition of "middle-aged."
In all sincerity, she looked at me and said, "I consider middle-aged to be 30 to about 50. After that, you're just old."
There it is. This, in fact, is 30. In the matter of a day, I went from "young," which is the first of her classifications, to middle-aged. I then informed her that I was 30, and she told me she would consider moving up the age, but the damage had already been done.
If middle-aged is watching This is Us with a mound of Kleenex, obsessing over my new love of yoga, getting tired at 6:30, and looking forward to staying in on weekends, sign me up. If middle-aged means being able to juggle countless tasks with such skill and grace that people don't even realize I'm doing it, I'll join the crew.
I was once terrified of leaving the "young" group, but I am feeling quite alright about being with the scallop loving crew. I am grateful to this student for the valuable lesson today.
This is 30, and I'd tell you more about it, but I have to go to bed. I'm old.
Being in my 20s shielded me from understanding what it's like at 30 and above, but I had a crash course in 5th hour today. Let me explain what took place.
One of my students, after hearing the word scallops, asked me what that was. After I told her, she told me that scallops are a "middle-aged woman's" food. After I finished laughing, I asked her to elaborate on her interesting extrapolation. I also was curious about her definition of "middle-aged."
In all sincerity, she looked at me and said, "I consider middle-aged to be 30 to about 50. After that, you're just old."
There it is. This, in fact, is 30. In the matter of a day, I went from "young," which is the first of her classifications, to middle-aged. I then informed her that I was 30, and she told me she would consider moving up the age, but the damage had already been done.
If middle-aged is watching This is Us with a mound of Kleenex, obsessing over my new love of yoga, getting tired at 6:30, and looking forward to staying in on weekends, sign me up. If middle-aged means being able to juggle countless tasks with such skill and grace that people don't even realize I'm doing it, I'll join the crew.
I was once terrified of leaving the "young" group, but I am feeling quite alright about being with the scallop loving crew. I am grateful to this student for the valuable lesson today.
This is 30, and I'd tell you more about it, but I have to go to bed. I'm old.
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