DS Steve Arnott

Stuff middle-aged women like

It’s funny. I woke up one day and I was middle-aged.

How could I tell? Well, suddenly all my clothes were wrong and I had to replace them with black stretchy pants, stripey tops and longline cardigans. Now I wear pearl studs like some private school lady. My jewellery is all real.

I get quietly excited about the centre aisle at Aldi.

I’m besotted with D.S. Steve Arnott from Line of Duty.

I have a lot of wine (good wine) and I don’t drink it all straight away. Ditto for gin. It’s fancy, and it lasts for weeks.

I don’t – and can’t – drink like I used to.

I own expensive crystal glasses, and I break them at a frightening rate.

The last time I stayed up really late was with my sick kid.

The thought of going out on a Saturday night sounds exhausting and unnecessary.

My friends are getting divorced (some of us, for the second time).

We’re worried about our parents.

My friends own their own houses.

Friends are having babies, while others are dealing with the compound heartbreak of failed IVF cycles.

More Than a Woman by Caitlin Moran sums it up beautifully. This book explains it all.

Weird boob pain. Less ambition than is professionally prudent. Deeper love. More kindness. Less f*cks to give.

I am less physically pristine but psychologically so much better than ever before. I read books with titles like ‘How To Do The Work’, and ‘Change Your Thinking’ (when I am not reading Book Club books, or crime novels).

Life feels more finite. And somehow so much longer, and calmer.

I watch Gardening Australia. I read the papers. I drink tea.

I paint. I have two wonderful jobs. I have the world’s most beautiful son. I have pets that my parents won’t wind up looking after. I listen to musicals.

I know I can do anything because I have a long history of getting sh*t done.

Middle age is maligned but I have no idea why. This time feels better to me. Smarter, more forgiving and reinforced with experience and humour.

What’s your favourite thing about being middle-aged?




2 comments on “Stuff middle-aged women like

  1. Oh me too Em. Tea, good gin in crystal glasses, truffle oil on my cheap, delicious potatoes. Saturday’s in. Oh, and I love Steve AND Guv, and “I ‘ate bent coppers”. I’m doing a pottery course. And season 3 of the Kominski Project is soul food. 😃😆😘😘😘

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