Yes!

42 on the outside, eternally 14 in the brain XD

the horror.... it takes weeks to retrain your mental map

It's somewhat scary when you realize the world you grew up in is gone. Just... gone. It didn't really hit me until one day when I was passing through my late grandma's neighbourhood and saw how much had changed.

This can be a good thing, especially for some of us lady-types.

Yeah. I'm 43 and I still get zits.

... with no end end in sight!

My folks used to call them "privileged characters ".

I eat whatever looks like it's about to go bad in the random food I bought. Not very creative. 🤷🏿

Those people were the a******s you encountered since childhood. They grow up to be the bad bosses because they all enjoyed bullying.

Ha! True dat!

All humans are fallible.

And you can plan and have it all come crashing down..

I just had four days off but woke up more than two hours BEFORE my alarm would go on at a workday....I have sleep issues ever since I remember, sometimes better sometimes worse but this year is somehow special. There seem to be no breaks. Frustrating. Especially after two very stressful years. This year I wanted to recover at least a little because the stressor is gone but noooo, my body (and/or mind) decided to act this weird...tsk

Al Bundy syndrome. He did four touchdowns in one game and married the head cheerleader. Married With Children was such an underrated sitcom.

And along with those aches and pains you have diminished energy. I used to be able to be active from sunrise to sundown and get so much done in one day, which left me with a lot more leisure time since I got everything done so fast. At 63, I now have to divide up my chores over several days, with rest periods in between, just to keep everything in order and completed. I know, I probably should’ve always paced myself, but I didn’t really have to so I didn’t. I liked getting everything done in as little time as possible, so I would have just that much more time where I didn’t have to do any work and could relax and do fun stuff I wanted—-not needed, not had—-to do. I miss that energy.

My dogs. I still say goodnight to them.

When I was a kid, my mom tried to get me onboard with becoming a "famous actress" by telling me I could have a huge house with as many pets as I wanted. Turns out SHE just wanted me to become a famous child actor so that SHE could get the money and never have to work again XD I do have four pets currently - two cats and two dogs - and they are a LOT of work, but I wouldn't trade them for anything XD

This needs to be higher! It sums up my entire adult life.

My fellow people with large-ish breasts: the MINDD brand bra is the BEST bra I have found in my 42 years of life. I am largeish-breasted (38DD) and I loathe underwire bras. They have caused me so much pain over the years and I've even gotten skin sores from the wires poking/chafing/etc. The MINDD bras might SEEM a little iffy since they don't have underwires, but they are WONDERFUL bras and I can *WASH THEM NORMALLY*. They are pricey (what bras aren't? sigh) but they are VERY worth it.

No it doesn't. But you can't stop trying.

And if no one around you is incompetent, that probably means...

Right?!? The shower, for goodness sake.

Never got to see this with my dad, the only non-abusive parent I had :( He had an accident when I was 18 (he sustained catastrophic brain damage in the accident and became near-vegetative) and we took care of him at home for 20+ years. He died in 2021. I wish he was still here, but my dad was "gone" long before he actually died. My mother, who is a toxic narcissist and abusive.... she's 79 and STILL somehow puttering around, strong as ever, powered by pure evil.

Then you hit age 40 and you realize "Wow! This is stupid! Why do I give a rat's patootie about what OTHER PEOPLE think about how I dress?" and you start wearing men's cargo shorts (pockets!!!!) and cute t-shirts with cartoon cats on them. You don't care that you weigh 150 lbs but "should" weigh 115 lbs (according to your boyfriend, who can shove it.) Hair frizzy? If you don't care, then don't care about what other PEOPLE think! Don't feel like putting on makeup today? THAT IS OKAY! Take care of yourself and your hygiene, yes, but your MENTAL health re: your clothing, appearance, etc. is also excruciatingly important. I did not learn that until my early 40s. I spent 20+ years trying to be the cute, thin, well-dressed, fashionable girl that I thought my boyfriend wanted. Now, if he loves ME, then he loves ME, and not what I wear or how perky my tiddlywinks are.

That's 2/3 of my crews on any given day

The rich elite billionaires are money sucking pariahs. But our political parties still give them tax cuts and all the breaks, while never increasing minimum wage or workers salaries. They ultimately are the cause of inflation as they have to maintain their profit margins at the consumers expense.

Yeah! As a kid, I always played with cats, stroked, hugged and kissed them and whatever, and nothing bad ever happened! Now I just sit nearby a cat at the vet's waiting room, and I'm all in tears, snot, my whole body itches and I have troubles breathing. But I still love cats and would like to pet them once in a while...

When we expected our first kid my bf bought some playstation games for him to play when the baby was asleep when he was on his paternal leave. And now.... 7 years later... the games are not even unwrapped from the plastic they came in. Lol.

My body: you managed to sleep ... but you did it wrong.

Hello darkness my old friend....

A really good day is when you get to do both.

Could not? No. Would not, yes. Some people just don't care. Some people are too damaged. Some people are too busy. It's when you find those few that WILL that really makes trying worth it.

Whoa, I wasn't expecting them to consider cräppy a curse word, didn't even think of it when doing my routine shuffle of bad words to try to guess the censored word!

On the other paw, you know better than anyone what kind of presents you like, and what size/color/flavor/platform you want it in.

Ah yes. Required number of characters; this one requires a SPECIAL character, something upper case, lower case, a number. I can see why people write them down.

I have felt this way my entire life with only a few brief respites here and there 😐

The only people I personally know who were able to retire early with a lot of money chose not to have kids. They saved a ton of money and now travel in a motor home in their retirement years, have a paid off mortgage, and generally are very comfortable. They did not have a single regret not having children.

Yeah, those don't go away.

If someone hates you for having a different opinion, that person is not an adult, no matter what their chronological age. Adults recognize and enjoy their differences. For instance, I believe in God. Most of the people on BP whom I consider friends do not. We still enjoy meowing/barking/chirping at each other. We still read what each other has written, and often find things to agree on. It's ok to disagree. You can still be respectful of people; you can still enjoy each other's company, and you can still celebrate your differences.

I only truly understood my mom when I had a kid.

I think the difference here is that many children believe they have to grow up to be totally independent and self-sufficient as an adult. Once you learn that you don't have to do everything yourself, that there are people and organisations out there that help you and that you are part of an interdependent ecosystem, that changes your perspective. The belief in "total independence" is where the problem lies. I am guessing this is tougher for men than for women because of cultural expectations.

Especially when almost all other creatures on the planet are fully functional and ready to live on their own in a matter of months.

Tell that to my right knee