'Toe-tally old!!'

So the other night I made a 9:00 p.m. kid-less Target run, which is like a trip to the dayspa for me these days, and as I was perusing through some t-shirts I overheard a couple of what looked like teen age girls having a conversation to which they were referencing a third party. Not really paying attention to the context of the conversation, I heard one of the girls ask, so how old she?" and her friend responded, "like 33 or 34", to which the girls replied..."oh, so she's totally old, you will for sure get the job over her!"
Obviously these two girls had no idea what potential emotional damage they had just caused to this 'old' woman, but it caused me to panic... am I that girl? Am I the mom on "Mean Girls" who dresses like her 15 year old? I started wondering if I need to act, dress, and shop more my age... Am I too old to be still shopping in the Juniors department? What about my fabulous gold glitter toes? Not to mention my secret viewings of "Saved by the Bell" reruns. I admit, I am not without fault when it comes to judging other women whom I think are acting "too young". But why? Why are we so are hard on each other? At what age do we have to act our age? And why is it that the same expectation doesn't exist for men. We all know the guy (perhaps live with one) who plays with his kids remote controlled cars more than his kids. Or wears his favorite team jersey that is way to small as he watches his team play on t.v. Or like our recent family 24th of July get-together where Bryan and my brother-in-law Carter spared no expense on making sure they had the "coolest" fireworks display. The difference? The guys get off the hook with, "Oh ya, he's my third kid", or "isn't it cute that he is still a little boy at heart!"
Not with us ladies... we are the first to impose our 'age appropriate' expectations on each other.
So again, I ask myself, at what age do we have to start acting our age?
I think I found my answer
The other night Bry and I took Camryn and my mom to the Washington County Fair. As a kid this was a highly anticipated three day event for me. Our parents would drop us off and we would stay until it closed. I relished every minute of the fair, the dry heat, carmel apples, cotton candy, tiger's blood snow cones and the 'boy stalking' that would, with any luck end up with a ride on the ferris wheel by the end of the fair on Saturday night.
I haven't been to the Fair since I was a teen ager and the minute I stepped on the fairground I felt like I was 13 again. But it wasn't just me. My 35 year old husband and 72 year old mother were 13 again as well. Mom couldn't wait to get her cotton candy, and Bryan spent way too much money trying to win the 'impossible' gigantic stuffed Zebra for Camryn (and for himself), only to end up bargaining with the Carny worker to get three itty bitty stuffed animals in exchange for the slightly larger than itty bitty one that he gained!
Amidst all the noise, dust and 'redneckedness' I noticed one thing. Everyone--kids, teenagers, old moms, young moms, middle aged dads, and yes grandmas, had the same look in their eyes. They had all been there before and no matter how long they had been alive and what kind of life they had, they were all kids and not even trying to fight it.
Even though in my heart I was back in my youth, there were a few reminders that I am not. The carmel apple I envisioned all day nearly pulled out one of my fillings and subsequently went in the trash. When I got to the front of the line to the ferris wheel (that I used to ride over and over) I chickened out and left my mom to take Camryn (which was too cute for words). The cotton candy made me sick and I had to sit down every 15 minutes cause my feet hurt. The tigers blood snow cone, however, still rocked.
So I have concluded that there is enough in this life to remind me that I am longer physically in my youth. So for now, I am keeping my glitter toes and I will continue to shop like a teenager. I will continue to have tickle parties with Camryn and listen to my Justin Timberlake CD.
The A.C. Slater poster however, might need to go.