Tag Archives: baby boomers
So I Broke Down and Tried Botox (please don’t judge me!)
I’m a squinter. Always have been. My Grandma used to caution me, “Quit doing that – your face will freeze that way!” In my twenties, David would affectionately tease me about my “worry line.” He would always know when something was amiss, all he had to do was look between my eyes.Fast forward thirty (or so) years and, still, I squint on. The squinting’s worst when I’m writing – I don’t even realized I’m doing it.
And Grandma was right, my face… CONTINUE READING >>
Fear Conquering & Roller Derby
“Mom. You are going to get owned.”
My, how the tables have turned. I’m not going to lie, I was getting a bit of pleasure out of worrying The Spawn.
The reason for their concern was not without merit — I was about to attend Roller Derby Camp. Or as the Killamazoo Derby Darlins call it, a “Fresh Meat Event”.
In our never-ending quest to find quirky things to do… CONTINUE READING >>
Veronica (aka Helln Hotflash) Does Roller Derby
enlarge video
Veronica becomes “Helln Hotflash” and embeds herself with the Killamazoo Derby Darlins — not quite the brightest move for a “woman of a certain age”! She survived – barely – and it wasn’t until… CONTINUE READING >>
What Do the Experts Say About Boomerang Kids? It’s NOT what you think
Full-grown, twenty-something college graduates are returning home to have their parents continue supporting them due to “immaturity” or because “they just prefer the comforts of home?” And the expert’s take is that there is nothing wrong with that picture?Jaw, meet floor. Maybe there was some mistake. Maybe the expert, wasn’t clear on her meaning. We should give her the benefit of the doubt and look at the answers she and her fellow expert gave to some other pertinent questions. After all, they are on the staff at… CONTINUE READING >>
WHOA! Do You Ever Feel Invisible?
Exciting news! I am honored to have been chosen to be a debut video partner of WHOA! Network, an exciting new online video network dedicated to bringing out the best in women “of a certain age.”Here’s the scoop (and you can say you heard it here first!):
WHOA! Network has a simple concept at its core: Women should be seen and heard at every age and valued more as we get older, not less.
Makes sense, right?
Yet that’s not the case. In our… CONTINUE READING >>
Veronica is Interviewed on WHOA! Network
Here are the dynamic hosts of WHOA!, Darryle and Lynn, interviewing… CONTINUE READING >>
The Yin and Yang of Parasite “Kids”
Mine! Mine! Mine!
David explores two UNBELIEVABLE stories of greed and selfishness!
Is there a special place in hell for offspring who steal from their elderly parents? Should offspring be required to take care of elderly parents no matter the circumstances? What steps can be taken to ensure that our families don’t end up like this?… CONTINUE READING >>
Smooth Sailing? Not Likely!
I’d been following the controversial Abby Sunderland story with interest. Remember Abby? She was the sixteen-year-old sailor who, while attempting to sail her vessel around the world solo, found herself stranded in the middle of the Indian Ocean. Her parents took quite a bit of flack over the situation. I’d looked at this story from many different angles – and, as usual, my feelings were mixed.The helicopter Mommy in me shouted, “What the &#*% were her parents thinking?!” But after calm reflection I saw things a bit differently. I too have a child with “dangerous dreams.” My son, The Boy, has been flying airplanes since he was thirteen.
Sure, I’ve heard all the arguments… CONTINUE READING >>
Our Interview with Aging Insider
Becca at Aging Insider calls us “5 Alarm Boomer Bloggers” and in this episode of her fabulous show, she says:“Richard Branson says, ‘Screw it, lets do it!’ and this is a couple who is embracing that motto. The kids left for college and this rockstar couple left for the world… CONTINUE READING and watch the video >>
Un-nesting. Could it be Blissfully Real?
I’m constantly searching for material that dispels my internal anti-mantra, “You are a bad mommy. You shouldn’t be so happy that your children have left the nest. You are a bad…” In my latest frantic search, I came across a theory that I love. Un-nesting.Suzanne Koven, M.D. writes in her post for Psychology Today entitled “The Un-Nesting Instinct”:
“Celia’s story started out sounding pretty familiar-a cliché almost. She was fiftyish and going through menopause and, in addition to the weight gain and hot flashes, she found herself irritable and sad. Her children, she told me, were a particular source of sadness. “You mean because they’re growing up, moving away?” I asked. ‘No,’ answered Celia, ‘Because they’re… CONTINUE READING >>
We’re Too Old For This Crap
One of our top priorities when becoming gypsy — as opposed to empty — nesters was to use our new found freedom to see family and friends that we hadn’t been able to visit in years.
While finishing up our childrearing years on a Caribbean island a thousand miles from the mainland we were understandably limited in our opportunities to drop in on folks.
Now that we are unfettered, we have had the opportunity to reunite with quite a few of our old friends. In every case I’ve noticed… CONTINUE READING >>
I Am NOT a Useless Waste!
Has it happened? Have I become a crotchety old lady? Do I abhor certain kinds of music because I’m too old to get it? Am I shocked at some of the things that “young people” wear these days?
Possibly so. But I’m dead certain of one thing – people are much more rude than they were when I was a young whippersnapper.
Because we have a website I am painfully aware that there are those that don’t treat others with civility. I’ve quit reading the online comments on news stories – it’s horrific.
Then, out of nowhere, cyberspace-type incivility came crashing into Real Life. In a manner that I couldn’t ignore or justify… CONTINUE READING >>
GypsyNesting in Your Own Backyard
As much as we love our GypsyNester lifestyle, we understand that chucking it all and hitting the highway is not something everybody can do. Many of us have ties that can make it difficult — if not impossible — to pull that off. With that in mind, we like to periodically point out that there are plenty of great GypsyNesting opportunities right in your own backyard.A plethora of possibilities are playing out nearby no matter where you call home. You just have to know where to look… CONTINUE READING >>
Jousting with Middle Age
What is middle aged? I suppose we are implying the middle of our lifespan. So let’s say eighty years. That makes forty, give or take a few years, middle aged.
Ninety is certainly a possibility, so, forty-five. Some of us might even live to be 100, so I can even go as high as fifty.
After that it gets a little curious. Fifty-five? Well, people have lived to 110, so let’s call the late fifties the absolute top side of middle age.
If someone sixty-plus is going around claiming to be middle aged, basically they are declaring… CONTINUE READING >>
We Are So Thankful!
Every once in a while, we are hit over the head by a ton of bricks. While this would normally be cause for concern, this particular brickload is one of gratitude.
We have been blessed with amazing accolades from amazing folks! We have done really fun interviews and have been included in some pretty prestigious publications. We are truly honored. Click in to see why... CONTINUE READING >>
Post-Parting Depression: Saying Good-bye to My Adult Kids
I’ve got an issue and I need help! I’m hoping I’ll get a lot of suggestions on this post from our amazingly insightful readers.This past holiday season, we had a lot to celebrate. In addition to our typical yuletide festivities, we were blessed to celebrate my in-law’s 60th wedding anniversary two days after Christmas and our own 30th a week after the new year started.
As wonderful as it was to have such momentous events smack-in-the-middle of the holidays, it led to more good-byes to our adult kids than I’m normally used to.
Having The Spawn come and go in such short and hectic celebratory spurts gave me some interesting insight into how I deal with my empty nest good-byes.
Not well, it seems… CONTINUE READING >>
If It Can Kill Me, It MUST Be Good
I like to flip through the channels when watching the evening news. The other night while practicing my thumb aerobics, I noticed that the exact same commercial was on two of the networks at the exact same time. That surprised me a bit.
What didn’t shock me was that it was an ad for a prescription drug.
So I decided to start paying attention. It seemed that at least half of the advertisements were for pharmaceuticals.
I also noticed that I must have at least half a dozen things seriously wrong with me and should be… CONTINUE READING >>
Life After Kids
When Veronica and I began to think about our life after raising kids one of the first things we did was Google “empty nesters.”
We wanted to see if anyone else was looking at this the same way that we were. With a feeling of “isn’t it great that the kids have moved out, and we’ll have life to ourselves again?” To be untethered and free. To wander the globe. To be GypsyNesters instead of empty-nesters.
But no, just about everything we could find was lamenting how terrible it is that the kids aren’t around anymore. Even worse, the biggest item on the first page we clicked into was an enormous ad for an… CONTINUE READING >>
The Long and the Shorts of It All
When women get to be “of a certain age” questions of appropriateness inevitably rear their ugly heads. I think I have squarely hit that certain age. With a vengeance.My questions of appropriateness have actually turned into a LIST of questions of appropriateness:
Should I stop wearing shorts?
What about sleeveless blouses?
Is my hair too long?
When should I stop dying it?
Should I do something about my wrinkles? The shorts quandary is a tough one for me. It’s on the top… CONTINUE READING >>
Fear Conquering & Snow Skiing
Learning to ski at my age had me worrying about things that a younger person might not have.
What if I plummet over a cliff, break my hip, and die from complications a week later? What if I take a blow to the back of my head from one of those chair ride thingies and end up like an amnesia-riddled soap opera character? What if I end up like Sonny Bono and that horrible tree? What if?
But as a committed GypsyNester, it is my duty to step out of my comfort zone and… CONTINUE READING >>
60 Years of Marriage: A Gift My Parents Gave Me
This week our family is celebrating a remarkable event, my parent’s sixtieth wedding anniversary. Only an extraordinary mixture of love, trust, faith, hard work, and — yes — luck could have made this event possible.I’m not going to attempt to analyze the inner workings of how a union can not only survive, but thrive over six decades, I am simply going to offer thanks.
More than gratitude for the care and security that I received, although that too often goes unspoken, I want to particularly express how grateful I am for… CONTINUE READING >>
Mom, Stop Coddling Me and Let Me Grow!
We have discussions about the parent / adult “kid” relationship quite frequently here at GypsyNester.com, but it’s quite rare that we get to hear the young adult point of view on our site, other than a few cherished comments in our discussion section.We don’t kid ourselves, we are aware that there aren’t a lot a twenty-something people who get up in the morning and think, hey, let’s see what the geezer set is up to this days.
So we felt pretty good when we came across “The Drawbacks of Being A Boomerang Kid” at YPULSE. In this story a recent college graduate affirms our position on adult offspring returning to the nest.
“Could it be that some … CONTINUE READING >>
The Best? (Worst?) Funniest. Family Portrait. Ever.
Every family has ‘em. Piles of throw-away snapshots that you can’t bear to actually throw away. Before digital cameras our generation put every picture, no matter how bad, into a photo album. After all, they were precious – and we shelled out big bucks to have them developed.Then there are the CLASSICS. The ones you should have thrown away, but instead you frame them. This one is ours.
Think about it, we thought we were sitting for a lovely family portrait. Clearly, all heck is breaking loose and none of us could… CONTINUE READING >>
No, We Won’t Buy You a…
Our main goal as parents was to end up with happy, healthy, self-sufficient adults.We can’t tell anyone how to do this — everyone’s different and Lord knows we made our share of mistakes along the way — but we can offer an insight that we’ve gained through our own offspring’s transitions from childhood to adulthood.
Don’t give kids everything they want, just everything they need.
A whole lot of what they want is stupid crap and… CONTINUE READING >>
What’s Really Important: A Black Friday Antidote
I saw this quote and just had to share. It struck me that we may be losing sight on what is truly important this holiday season.Yesterday, in our post-turkey bloat, we grabbed the remote and David and I settled into something we rarely do: We vegged in front of the boob-tube.
Immediately we felt bombarded. The blaring onslaught of Black Friday ads was… CONTINUE READING >>
Helping Your Aging Parents Move: A GypsyNester Guide
Helping your folks downsize and move as they get on in years can be a daunting task. The emotions of leaving a place that has been home for many years — along with that elephant in the room, aging — are heavy burdens.We have recently assisted with three moves with varying degrees of success, and have… CONTINUE READING >>
