Young at Heart. Slightly Older in Other Places.

Small Town Kids Magazine invited me to again write a guest post for their blog.  I'll share it with you here, and you can see the post on the STK blog by clicking on this link.

Several friends of mine recently shared on social media a great post from a professional blogger about how year 36 is the best time of your life.  Fitting, seeing as how most of my friends are 36ish.  The blogger discussed how life in your mid-30s is great because you are confident, you have a family, you surround yourself with only true friends, you care more about your physical fitness and mental well-being, and the like.

I am also 36, er 37.  But inside I still feel 26.  I think I look the same as I did when I was in my 20s. Then I realize I have to exercise more, watch what I eat more, color grays in my hair, drink more coffee, use anti-wrinkle cream, stretch when I get out of bed because I'm stiff.  I realize I can no longer wear a revealing two-piece because I have young sons. Okay, and because I no longer have six-pack abs.   

The other day, I pulled up to a four-way stop sign and saw a young man, probably in his early 20s, pull up in a Jeep Wrangler across from me.  He was jamming out to Major Lazer with the top off the Jeep, Ray Bans on, one hand on the steering wheel.  Well, that might as well be me, I thought.  I am sporting Wayfarers, one hand on the wheel, Bea Miller on full blast in my car...  my mom car. My huge Tahoe, complete with four booster seats for carpool, two headrest DVDs playing Scooby Doo, Goldfish cracker crumbs littering the floorboard, baseball bags, piano books, and one random sweaty sock [why is it always just one].

Then, yesterday, my husband and I were watching college football. [I know some of you may be rolling your eyes, but I am a huge football fanatic.  My hometown IS Friday Night Lights.] I was eating pizza, drinking some libations, yelling and cheering at the television (go Red Raiders!), and my husband started laughing at me. See, we are going back to visit our alma mater next weekend and take the boys to a huge Big XII football game. My husband wanted to know if I was going to act a fool - screaming and cheering - while we are at the game next weekend.  "You are not the same age as that quarterback or the students filling the stands," he said.  I suppose I will hold it together and act like a well-mannered 37 year-old mother of two.  But, inside, I know I'll want to tailgate and chant like I'm 22 again.

In all seriousness, I am thankful for my mom body and my mom car. Not particularly for the gray hairs... I am thankful for the wisdom I have gained from 37 and a half years on Earth, 12 and a half years of marriage, and two strong-willed boys.  But, don't laugh if you see me rolling down the road, sunglasses on, head bobbing slightly, jamming like a co-ed.

xo,

Lindsay