How to feel old

 You know the age you feel in your head? I’m quite young - about 9. Most people, if you ask them feel somewhere between 18 and 30 but no one ‘feels’ over fifty. It’s just not an age our mind can comprehend. So, most of the time, we don’t live our day to day lives feeling old. However, just occasionally there are little reminders. 

1. The early morning stiffness - if you are a man, reading this, then stop sniggering. I was talking about knees and hips!

2. Being able to remember the current fashion the first time round.

3. Working in a school where children, when trying to guess your age, suddenly start saying, “Well, my grandma is 55, so you must be about that old.”

4. Watching all the first day of school pictures on social media. This will be the loveliest thing and also a stark reminder of just how old you are. The children you taught are all grown up and going into year 7 or 13, or even worse, are posting pictures of their own children on the doorstep in a pristine uniform.

5. Teachers you work with are younger than your own children. 

It’s a real shock, though, to square the reality with the age in my head. I may be older than you, have put the phone in the fridge because I forgot that I’d let the double glazing salesman talk uninterrupted but in my head I’m probably younger than all of you. Nine is such a fun age. Hopscotch anyone?