My Mid-Life...What?!

As many of my friends who are approaching, have already climbed the hill or have surpassed the 40 year old mark, are embarking on new adventures in their lives, I find myself on a different path. One friend seems to have a new adventure every week, whether it’s writing, teaching, political achievements or working on a commercial or movie, she is living it up! My kids and I enjoy immensely finding out what the next chapter in her life will bring because, as they say, “Aunt Sarah gets to do the coolest things!” I must admit she is having the best “mid-life crisis” I’ve ever seen, if one assumes that any major change of life at 40 is automatically categorized a “crisis”.

At middle age, most women find themselves with older, more self-sufficient children and perhaps start to seek the next chapter in their lives. Forty seems to be a good age to reassess what you’re doing and where you’re going. It doesn’t need to be a mid-life crisis, better phraseology may be “mid-life adventure” or “mid-life maturity”, but face it “adventure” sounds much more inviting!

As I approached my 40th birthday this past December, I too struggled with those typical mid-life crisis questions. What have I accomplished? Will I be able to do this, that, or the other of the various dreams I’ve held over the years? During most of the autumn months I feared that it would turn out to be the worst birthday ever. Fortunately, my husband surprised me with the most elegant birthday bash I could ever have imagined! The surprise came a month before my birthday and really helped me to face climbing that hill with more hope and joy than I could have expected. In fact, the best birthday gift of all was the one that put me on a different path over that infamous hill. Although, I wouldn’t categorize my change of life as my mid-life crisis, rather it is my mid-life motherhood!

I still find myself occasionally shocked at the fact that I’m expecting a baby at 40! Although, this was no surprise, it is still…well…surprising! Within the next 10 days, baby should be arriving and we are currently in major nesting mode. I hope that this blog might be of help and encouragement to other mothers of "advanced maternal age" as we tackle our mid-life motherhood together!