Things that are making me feel old

[sholio]

Not like old old, but acutely aware of the passage of time ... I found out while visiting my mom and stepdad that they are now great-grandparents. My stepsister is around my age (though we never really thought of each other as sisters in the slightest; both of us were already grown when our parents got married) and had kids fairly young, and her daughter has a couple of young kids now.

I mean, I know I'm in the grandparent demographic now (I'm 47, several years older than my grandma was when I was born), and a handful of people I know around my age have great-nieces/nephews, but I think my stepsister is the first person I'm aware of in my immediate family age cohort to become a grandparent. I think she might be a couple of years older than me, because I think she already had at least one kid when our parents got together (I was in my early 20s at the time). BUT STILL!!

The other thing making me vaguely aware of Time™ is noticing "Firefly (TV 2002)" on AO3 which makes me realize it's been 22 years (??!!) since Firefly came out. Not that it was a really big thing for me at the time, it was more of a watched-and-enjoyed-it kind of situation, but it is still absolutely baffling to try to fit my memories of that show having been a cult hit in SFF geekdom with the fact that it's been over 20 years since that happened.

The early 2000s do not feel as long ago as they are. So much formative life stuff happened for me then.

Comments

[sovay]

but I think my stepsister is the first person I'm aware of in my immediate family age cohort to become a grandparent.

My family has oddly spaced generations on both sides which confuses this sort of thing, but my brother became a step-grandfather last fall and I'm still not used to it.

[sholio]

That must be so strange. I am definitely having some trouble wrapping my head around this one! Also, when we were all kids, I was the oldest among my general group of siblings and the cousins who lived near us, so I hit most of the developmental milestones first; but at some point, one of those younger siblings or cousins is going to have a grandkid, and that's going to be extremely strange in a whole new way. I never knew my stepsister except as an adult, so at least I don't have that specific kind of weirdness to deal with.

[sovay]

That must be so strange.

He's younger than I am. It was always likelier for a variety of reasons that he would reproduce before I did, but the flash-forward-by-marriage I was not prepared for.

I never knew my stepsister except as an adult, so at least I don't have that specific kind of weirdness to deal with.

I can see that. Good luck whenever it hits your immediate cohort.

(I got to skip the weirdness of cousins with grandchildren, not because I don't have them—an entire range of my cousins are/were up to a quarter-century older than me—but because I did not grow up with any of them, so it all happened a distance that did not affect my sense of WTF time.)

[rheanna]

For some reason, noticing the time elapsed since various TV shows and movies came out has been catching me recently. It's now 20 years since SGA started. How is that possible?

I'm interviewing today for an apprenticeship position, which means it's mostly 18 and 19 year olds, ie people born in around 2006. These people are thirty years younger than me. WHAT.

[philomytha]

Someone who worked with my son as a summer job just after finishing school turned up again recently only now she's a qualified speech therapist with years of experience, that was a bit of a shock. The doctors have been getting younger generally, but when it's someone you wrote a reference for for her undergraduate course... she's excellent, mind you! But the past decade seems to have evaporated rather suddenly. I remain convinced WW2 was fifty years ago, too.

[naraht]

Wow, I don't think of 47 as "the grandparent demographic" at all, but then my parents were in their mid-thirties when I was born. Families really differ!

[yhlee]

Hahaha, I only do because I got married and spawned in my early twenties so my daughter is now twenty, which makes me feel old on a daily basis because she lives at home while she's going through college! OTOH of my cousins and college friends who have kids at all, theirs are all at least like a decade younger than my kid. :p

[yalumesse]

If it helps(?), I'm younger than you, and I feel exactly the same. I'm now the person who sighs and says I liked the Star Trek of MY generation and these new shows are just... not the right vibe. I was literally just chatting with a friend about a show and we realised it starting airing almost 20 years ago. I remember fandom jargon that fell out of common use before some current fic writers were BORN.

There's definitely something to be said for being part of the older generation of fans. I definitely enjoy the "get off my lawn!" vibe sometimes, of sitting back and ignoring the shipping dramas/flame wars/whatever The Kids are currently getting all upset about that I've seen many times before.

....BUT STILL.

[dickinsons]

I'm not yet 30 but I'm starting to have this sort of experiences, honestly. Regarding age and being a grandparent, a friend of mine who's in her early 60s is about to become a great-grandma, which was a bit shocking to me. But apparently in her family most women have children when they're very young, for example her first was born when she was only 18. Meanwhile my grandad became a great-grandad when he was over 90 years old! It can vary so much between families.

Time really flies. All news about anniversaries of a TV show, movie, etc. are always shocking to me because it always feels like it wasn't that long ago!

[leesa_perrie]

I still feel like the 1970s was only about 30 years ago (and even that feels a bit strange), but actually it was 50 odd years ago!!! And then SGA was 20 years ago (what?!) and I'd never have guess how old Firefly was either! Time goes by so fast, it's hard to keep up with it! :D

[trobadora]

Wow. So agreed about the early 2000s, that can't possibly be twenty years ago ...

[sheron]

Ah yes, the "90s music" instead of 70s on the radio.. :D

[viridian5]

I've had moments of wtf hearing music that was out in my college years playing on the local oldies station. Like "I'm Too Sexy," for instance.

[timespirt]

Same here, my grandparent married 3 times had kids in 2 marriages that produce a gap. My father and his brother are from the first marriage. Their 2 sisters from the second.

[goodbyebird]

I'm still stuck on 90s music and apparel getting the same treatment we gave the 70s in my youth. Time is such utter nonsense.

Xena will have its 25th anniversary next year. Looking forwards to a new bout of "it's been how long?? *crumbles into dust*"

[sgatazmy]

2002? It can’t have been so long ago? I don't get it. How is time like this?

[helen_keeble]

I’m 44 and my eldest is nearly 14, so while I _could_ be a grandma in my late 40s, I sure hope I’m not. XD

I have however heard her refer to the early 2000s in the same sort of way I think of the 1960s, ie as a unique, historical time period. I take great delight in pointing out that her entire cohort dresses like it’s 1998.

[cornerofmadness]

I feel you. The 90s feel like yesterday not 30 years ago. Last week (the week before?) it went around that the Buffy finale was 21 years ago and I felt my bones turn to dust like I was the Mummy

[sophia_sol]

I'm not in the grandparent demographic yet, but the kids of my friends keep getting older and it's like....damn time PASSES. I am the adult who cannot stop thinking "wow you're getting so BIG" every time I see a kid I know. At least I mostly know better than to say it to the kid!

and yeah I still think of the early 2000's as like, approximately now. near history. The prototypical "the present". and they're not, anymore!

[umadoshi]

I think several months ago I happened to find out that one of my best friends from before university, who's only a few months younger than me, is a grandmother now. I just. What. No.

[oracne]

My eldest nieces are only 8 years younger than me....

[lunabee34]

I feel that last paragraph so hard.

I'm 45 and the thing that's getting me the most is having a kid who's starting grad school. Lol

[aelfgyfu_mead]

That must be a weird feeling, and it's strange just to hear about it kind of incidentally, like they didn't tell you in advance or call you to announce it.

But honestly, my first reaction was: you think you feel old! I have several years on you, and every day, something reminds me how old I am! (Ok, maybe not every day in the summer, but every day when I teach.)

[(Anonymous)]

I still think that the eighties were just the other year. I felt particularly old when my niece ( aged between my daughters) had a baby. I'm sure all my great aunts were ancient relics about thirty years out of style. Quite a few parents of children my children were at school with are grandparents and one girl at school with my eldest has just had her fourth: all of whom bear lovely old fashioned names- not a Chardonnay in sight. Around here quite a lot of girls have babies young: if they're not academic enough for university then they'll have a baby by twenty. Middle daughter has a dog and is getting married this summer (in Las Vegas: no one invited) so I suspect I'll be a grandmother soon.

[minim_calibre]

I know that my mother-in-law was two years younger than me (I am 12 days away from 50) when she became a grandparent for the first time (she was 21 going on 22 when she had my sister-in-law), but I still can't wrap my head around our late 40s being grandparent age. However, I had older parents, so my youngest living grandparent was almost 58 when I was born. The other two living ones were 72 and 73, respectively. The dead one would have been 65.

And yet, technically, I guess I am old enough to be someone's grandparent. (The AARP membership offer in the mail is what's making me feel old.)