Daughter: Mum, we’re learning about life cycles at school.
Me: OK. What stages are there in a life cycle?
Daughter: Birth, growth, reproduction and death.
Me: And what stage are you at?
Daughter: Growth!
Me: So what stage am I at?
Daughter: *Pause*
Son: Well, you’ve had us, so that’s past reproduction … death?
Daughter: I think there might be a bit between reproduction and death.
We actually had a good laugh about it, and the kids possibly looked embarrassed to have written me off so quickly.
I don’t need reminding of my rock-solid middle age status. The possibilities that were ahead of me decades ago are being slid across the John Lewis dining room table to my kids. I’m still hoping that one of them will be entrepreneurial and/or creative. My own youthful ambitions included:
- Private detective and also an international spy
- Science fiction writer in a light-filled attic
- Boutique paper shop owner in Florence.
Instead, I have a sensible digital marketing career and I live in a regular suburban street.
We will be moving to a new regular suburban street soon. After years of renting, and despite Brexit and bombings, we’ve bought our own place. Our new home looks very much like all the other ones in the street and I’m now OK with that.
I propose to insert Comfortable between the Reproduction and Death phases of the life cycle.
My view of the suburbs.
Here’s one I wrote earlier
Hype cycle of life. I’ve had a few days recently when I’ve been without my phone. This made me realise how I use social media to fill all the little gaps in the day when I’d rather scroll than think or look or talk. (Introverts unite!)
Kids – sorry the grown-ups broke your EU. Dear kids, Yesterday some grown-ups broke your European Union. Sorry about that. They didn’t really mean to. I hope that you can fix it when you’re older. Remember to vote 🙂 Love, mum
A life less digital 