There is a general consensus that when you reach a certain age, or pass a certain milestone (no - I am not talking about the big 4 0 - I haven't hit that one yet!), you are supposed to change the way you act, feel, see things, and dress. No longer are we seen as "girl's", but are addressed as "ma'am". This is my PET peeve!! I may be a lady, but I am NOT a ma'am!!! I have given this a lot of thought lately, and have decided that there are no boundaries to remaining young. The limits we see are imposed by society, either those very young - those annoying prepubescent teen waitrons who call us ma'am and roll their eyes, or by those belonging to a generation where you cut your hair short and grew your hems long once you hit 35!! So here it is. My proof that I am not quite ready to retire my girl status, and wear that ma'am badge just yet.
I still enjoy an all girls slumber party.
Before any eyebrows are raised, I will clarify. Recently I was lucky enough to go on a four day trip to Cape Town with 8/10 girls from my wineclub-I-mean-bookclub. (And even more recently, an unforgettable two days at Indigo Fields Spa!!) What an absolutely amazing, soul enriching, rejuvenating, energy replenishing trip it was! We shopped unhindered in shops that had nothing to do with kids or groceries, we ate fantastic meals - decadent breakfasts, good coffees, long lingering wine-immersed lunches with no Spur in sight, and sublime dinners with some nights of dancing thrown in for good measure. It was indulgent (if you consider only having to worry about yourself for four solid days indulgent!), it was decadent (no shopping centre was left until everyone had made some purchase!), it was therapeutic. We shared rooms, shared clothes, shared make up, sat around in our pj's talking and laughing and sometimes crying. I realized what amazingly special friends these girls were. How uniquely they all contributed to my mental well being, my emotional stability, my soul. It was a four day, grown up slumber party. Thank you, Monique, Caren, Robyn, Jos, Georgie, Gen and Carla, Karen and Debs, for keeping us all girls! Ps - we threw away our ma'm status when we were thrown out of WOOLWORTHS for laughing too raucously!!!
I like to play dress up.
I am lucky enough to have two friends who I know I would fall apart without. We have been friends since our kids were born, and have grown into motherhood together. As fate would have it, we all have similar backgrounds in our past dancing endeavors (Karen is still a dancer today, while Ash and I jump in when we can). This shared flair for the dramatic lends itself to wonderful, unforgettable parties and events! Make it a dress up theme, and we will more than rise to the occasion! Together (and dragging our long suffering husbands with us!), we have been Shebeens Queens, gone back to the 80's twice, been Arabian Princesses, Cowgirls, Prostitutes (in Mozambique), to name a few. And we rocked it!! Together we have kicked up our heels and learnt to line dance, we have Lady Soul'ed, we have One Stop'ed and house partied until we were barefoot and hobbling. Talk about keeping you young! Special, wonderful, girls, who are more like sisters to me than friends.
I greedily grab new challenges.
On my Will Do List I proclaimed that I wanted to ride the Amashova (well, the half one!). And I did. The fact that I am not a rider, have a huge fear of riding downhills, and am at quite an unfit stage of my life, I did it. I wore the nappy-like shorts, borrowed the shirt (thanks Kar!), got on my bike, and did it. Recently, in Mauritius, I figured out how to do that stand-up-paddle-board-canoe-thingy;and not-so-recently I have run a marathon (I need to do another one at some point so that I can stop riding on the coat tails of the one time I actually ran further than round the block!!). If you dare me, or challenge me - or better yet tell me I CAN'T do it - then Satan's very own flaming steeds could not stop me doing it!
I am a technology slut
And yes, I do mean slut! I am fickle when it comes to moving on to newer, better, faster technology. I pad; blackberry; iphone; windows 8 (hating that this particular upgrade has gotten the better of me at the moment!!); new apps; upgraded apps; free apps; expensive apps; shortcuts; pointless upgrades; blogs; and now that I have my own website (www.forbesconsulting.co.za - thanks Creative Ground for making this possible!), learning how to do bigger and better things with it and on it... I am a sucker for it all!!
When are we officially OVER-THE-HILL???
Is it wrong to want to still have fun, to throw caution to the wind, and to laugh until you have to engage those kegal muscles (the first sign of being not-so-young anymore!)? My kids are my life. They are my everything. They come first, no matter what. And they know it. There is nothing I wouldn't do for them. I see them laugh when we laugh; their eyes sparkle when we act silly; and at parties (always full of both grown-ups AND kids now-a-days), I see how they follow our lead and jump up and dance, and laugh, and shriek and have fun with pure unadulterated abandonment.
Life is for the living. And I'm not quite ready to trade my dancing shoes for flats; exchange cocktails with girls for tea parties; or sit demurely on the side lines. As long as there is balance between work and play - which there definitely IS in my life - I want my kids to look back later in their lives and be able to say - life is fun!!! And you CAN do it all!! Jut please don't Ma'am me. I'm just saying...
When are we officially OVER-THE-HILL???
Is it wrong to want to still have fun, to throw caution to the wind, and to laugh until you have to engage those kegal muscles (the first sign of being not-so-young anymore!)? My kids are my life. They are my everything. They come first, no matter what. And they know it. There is nothing I wouldn't do for them. I see them laugh when we laugh; their eyes sparkle when we act silly; and at parties (always full of both grown-ups AND kids now-a-days), I see how they follow our lead and jump up and dance, and laugh, and shriek and have fun with pure unadulterated abandonment.
Life is for the living. And I'm not quite ready to trade my dancing shoes for flats; exchange cocktails with girls for tea parties; or sit demurely on the side lines. As long as there is balance between work and play - which there definitely IS in my life - I want my kids to look back later in their lives and be able to say - life is fun!!! And you CAN do it all!! Jut please don't Ma'am me. I'm just saying...
