Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That's not always the case, I'm 40 and got mistaken for 27 two nights ago, two kids.

Were they really mistaken or just trying to make a 40 year old feel good for a second.

I am 47 and was carded yesterday when I bought a bottle of wine. I had my 9 yo with me.

Sadly, I think she was just a rule follower! lol

Anonymous wrote:There was a study done with twins. One had kids the other did not. The results were overwhelming that the childless twin looked much younger than the the twin with kids.

Hmm...I'm a twin who has kids and my sister does not. She has way more gray hair than I do, but she's in much better shape than I am. She has time to go home and do two hour workouts, while my workouts these days consist of trying to get 30 mins at the gym at lunch and running after a half-naked 3 year old who's tormenting his 5 year old sister. She looks younger AND better than I do! We're 37- people routinely think I'm in my late 20s, but people routinely think she's in her early 20s and she's been confused for a teenager recently!!

One of my friends just got married in her 40's and she looks fabulous without any botox or nips and tucks.
I'm the same age with kids and look like hell in a hand basket most days. I think all of the sleepless nights and worrying, worrying, worrying that goes along with parenting these days ages us.

Anonymous wrote:There are many single, bitter women in their 40s in this city.

No doubt, having kids ages you. But I would take that over preferring to have married/had kids and never found the right person.

Whose fault is that?

It's societal.

If women weren't hounded by pictures of models in magazines and commercials placing us in domestic roles while our powerful husbands took care of us, I doubt half the single women out there would feel like shit.

And you don't help. You're just as bad as the rest of the morons who think the single lifestyle is flavorless and pathetic.

I am proud enough to write that ALL of my friends - single, divorced, married with kids, gay, straight, blah blah blah - all share the same philosophy: that only YOU can make yourself happy . . . b/c who in the fuck cares what others think?

the right person! LMFAO! How many of those "right" people (men) dumped their wives for a younger, thinner version?

Honey . . . nothing is 100% in this lifetime! nothing!

Anonymous wrote:What I have noticed is that no one age group has a monopoly on looking good and feeling good. Really, I know 40 year old moms who look amazing and 30 year old single women who are exhausted, burned out, and consumed with finding Mr. Right and having kids.

I work for a large firm and the split between women in their 40s who look amazing and women in their 40s who look (and often feel) like crap is probably 50/50.

No matter how hard you try, you can't boil down people's appearances by age and socio-economic and domestic profiles. Just doesn't work.

Yes!! I've been at my job for 18 years and started working at home 7 years ago. Any time I've stopped in the office --co-workers I haven't seen in a decade go nuts about how I haven't aged.

I have 2 kids--got my body right back and have olive skin. My parents are mistaken for 50 and they are 70. Genetics are a huge part. I also think happiness is.

My co-workers think the WAH people age better. I agree--no commutes, time to workout, etc.

Those bitches are getting older every day. I would not want to be single in my 50s. (Not even 40s)-- the men their age are looking at younger women.

What I have noticed is that no one age group has a monopoly on looking good and feeling good. Really, I know 40 year old moms who look amazing and 30 year old single women who are exhausted, burned out, and consumed with finding Mr. Right and having kids.

I work for a large firm and the split between women in their 40s who look amazing and women in their 40s who look (and often feel) like crap is probably 50/50.

No matter how hard you try, you can't boil down people's appearances by age and socio-economic and domestic profiles. Just doesn't work.

Here is your typical single women in her 40s

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hmmmmm...I'm 47. Five kids. I am 5'5 and 117 pounds. I work out, take care of myself, and try really hard to look my best every day. I don't think I look old. People are normally really surprised when they find out I am well over 40. But my single friends without kids look pretty damn good too. And I'm positive they look better than I do naked!

I think it's all in how you take care of yourself. Having kids can make finding the time to work out, shop, do make-up and hair....a lot more challenging! But if it's truly important to you, you'll find a way to make it happen.

You also live in middle America or maybe Utah where it's not even close to being as stressful as living in a large city

Sorry, but no. We've lived in D.C. for nine years. We moved away but are back and forth between D.C. and home every couple of years. And our new city is a "large city". Much, much larger than D.C.

You can choose to white knuckle your way through life or you can learn to relax. It has nothing to do with whether or not you have kids. The women who look hard would look that way with or without kids. That "rode hard and put away wet" look comes from years of unhealthy choices....smoking, drinking, lack of sleep, lack of exercise......

Anonymous wrote:That's not always the case, I'm 40 and got mistaken for 27 two nights ago, two kids.

Were they really mistaken or just trying to make a 40 year old feel good for a second.

I've noticed this. Take a look at any president before he takes office compared to when he leaves 4 or 8 yrs later. The difference is often striking. I think it is the same with parenthood, just with a longer "term".

Haven't found this to be the case. The ones I know are physically fit, but have a hardened look in their faces...but maybe they always looked that way. My SAHM SIL, on the other hand, is a very youthful looking mom of 3 in her mid 40s who could easily pass for a young 30 something.
Probably less about having had/not had a kid and more about genetics.

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Please girl, I noticed this when I was 28 at my high school reunion. Everyone who moved away and was still single looked fabulous. The people who stayed in town, got married and had kids looked ten years older than the rest of us. Ten years later, at my 20th reunion, I was still single and childless, and got hit on left and right. Now that I am a mom, I look old and fat like everyone else.[/quote]

You are a granny mom, though. Of course you look old. [/quote]
Better a granny mom than staying in a small town, doing nothing with my life and being an actual granny by age 40.[/quote]

touchee

Anonymous wrote:I'm only 32 but the difference between how I look now after 2 kids and how I looked 4 years ago before kids is quite noticeable. Stress and too many sleepless nights are definitely the culprit. The missed sleep can never be undone.

Me too, it's quite striking, the change.

Anonymous wrote:Those single women in their 40's might look great, but MANY of them live with the daily agony of "what might have been".

I would take my pot belly and wrinkles over having never wed and bred any day!

Disagree! For some people, there is far more to life than being married/ and with kids....