Thirty Something

Thirty Something, remember that show? It was about adults, with adult problems in adult scenarios. This Saturday Adam is embarking in that category – adulthood, or at least being thirty something. Shortly after he joins that age bracket, I will follow. I am confident that age doesn’t define who you are; my grandparents are the most youthful eighty somethings I ever met. However, we are leaving our reckless twenties to enter the world of adulthood thirties. It’s not like we can avoid being adults; after all, we have a child (and one on the way), a mortgage and responsibilities. There’s just something about being in your twenties that allows for ignorance and immaturity. By the time you hit thirty, people expect you to have a level of intelligence and common sense that you are allowed not to have in your twenties. It made me really start to think about what aging means. Looking at pictures of me over the last ten years, there hasn’t been a drastic change. My hairstyle has pretty much remained the same. I don’t wear my makeup incredibly different. Yet there is one obvious difference through the years, my laugh lines are more obvious. What? Wrinkles?!?! I understand that in the realm of age, I’m still young. The truth of the matter though is that the aging I will experience here on out is no longer cute. The aging Drew goes through is noteworthy and exciting – talking more, outgrowing his clothes, etc. The aging I will go through is less glamorous, hence a whole industry dedicated to defying the aging process. The cast of Thirty Something had adult problems. The problems that Drew has are, for the most part, manageable and nothing that a sticker or cookie can’t cure. The problems that those thirty plus have are larger, and asking mommy to kiss it can’t solve most of the time. So as we ring in Adam’s big 30, we take a leap towards adulthood. Fortunately Adam and I have each other to leap towards the future. Although our problems may not be curable with a sticker, hopefully they will always be manageable by leaning on each other. Even if that means that we will be leaning on a fellow adult, a member of thirty something.