How do you comfort someone who feels old?

[Julia1996]

Hi everyone. My dad has a birthday coming this Saturday.  He's been kind of depressed and not his usual happy self. He thinks he's like getting old. I didn't help any when I told him 40 wasn't old. He will be 39, not 40. Oops.  It's only one year but he acted like I killed his puppy. It's not like he's ready for shady meadows and Jell-O or anything. I really don't get it. I didn't think men got upset over getting older. It's surprising me that he's behaving like this. Any suggestions for cheering up someone who's stressing about getting older? Or should I just buy him high wasted pants and yellow socks.
Julia.

[Lady Sarah]

40 is not old! I am 51, and feel like 30 most of the time. Maybe you could buy him a pin that says "29 and holding". 

[Gertrude]

39? Ha! What I'd give to be 39 again. I'm 55 and some days I feel it and some I don't.


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[Ryuichi13]

39? Ha! What I'd give to be 39 again. I'm 55 and some days I feel it and some I don't.


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Same thing!..Even though I'm 55 as well, I usually don't feel it. 

39 isn't old, its just getting started good!

Ryuichi

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[Laurie]

    Oh my!

   All these youngsters talking about old age.  I just found out this morning I have arthritis in my feet. I knew about it in my shoulders already. I'll be 65 in 17 days. 
  Take your dad to dinner and the movies. Buy him some popcorn and licorice and call it good.  When AARP starts bugging him he can start to feel older. lol

Hugs Julia,

Laurie

[amandam]

Tell your dad to stop being such a girl!

[Ryuichi13]

    Oh my!

   All these youngsters talking about old age.  I just found out this morning I have arthritis in my feet. I knew about it in my shoulders already. I'll be 65 in 17 days. 
  Take your dad to dinner and the movies. Buy him some popcorn and licorice and call it good.  When AARP starts bugging him he can start to feel older. lol

Hugs Julia,

Laurie

Ugh.  I started getting AARP spam when I hit 45.  He has a few years still. [emoji12]

Ryuichi

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[Artesia]

I will be 44 in October, so not to far off from your dad.  My family used to do "over the hill" birthday parties for each decade starting at age 40.  Then there was to many of us at that age and it stopped.  Sometimes the party was set up all in black, almost like a funeral, and sometimes it was set up like a baby shower with pink and blue balloons, and all the other baby paraphernalia.  I am down to 1 cousin who is not, legally or physically, older than 40, I have several cousins and a mother who are celebrating anniversaries of turning 35, but won't claim to be older than 35.

I guess my answer is, make it a joke.

[Cindy]

Julia,

I thought of a nice gift.

Buy him some nice slippers and a blanket. Maybe a cushion for his head. Prop his feet up and tell him. "Dad, since you are feeling so old. Please tell me about all of those old war stories?"

Run like hell and hope he doesn't catch you!

Then have a nice dinner and a good laugh.

[Dianne H]

In our morbid family we rather laugh it off and take it for what it is.
I generally tell whoever the birthday boy or girl is that Walmart sells caskets online now. Buy one while they're cheap.
Since I'm the oldest I just tell the others to start buying me some wood. I want ta make my own and use it for a coffee table until I kick the bucket.

[Julia1996]

My brother and I had plans for his 40th birthday which are ruined because he's only going to be 39. Yeah..we both thought he was turning 40. I guess we are just bad kids not knowing his age. Lol.  My brother had a big banner printed that says "Lordy lordy Jack turned 40". He was going to hang it across the garage door. I guess we will have to save it till next year.😞 I guess we will take him to dinner or something. That's awful having to change our plans and be nice to him on his birthday! JK.lol
People get so weird about their age. My mom has been saying she was 35 for the last 3 years when everyone knows she's the same age as my dad.

Cindy, that's hilarious. But  I'm sure he wouldn't think so though.Lol  My brother told him he would put a rocking chair outside the front door so he could watch the lawn and say " get off my lawn you damn kids!" if any of the neighborhood kids started playing on our lawn. It's just hard to take my dad's attitude seriously. 39 isn't old and he looks younger than his age. They say men have a midlife crash so maybe that's it.
Julia

[Nina]

Geez, that's not old.
I'm 52 and keep so friggin' active with backpacking, hiking and hunting.
Currently I'm immersing myself in every book and blog about solo hiking either the Appalacian trail or the Pacific Crest trail next year. I love hiking...and especially solo.

[Paige]

My brother and I had plans for his 40th birthday which are ruined because he's only going to be 39. Yeah..we both thought he was turning 40. I guess we are just bad kids not knowing his age. Lol.  My brother had a big banner printed that says "Lordy lordy Jack turned 40". He was going to hang it across the garage door. I guess we will have to save it till next year.😞

Julia I love your posts that's too funny.  Don't worry my kids always get my age mixed up.  I would like it if they would think I'm younger once in a while. 

Paige

[Deb Roz]

Age ain't nothin' but a number.  And the number 40 is definitely not old.  He's raised a couple great kids into adulthood, I'd say that's a pretty amazing accomplishment, especially at such a young age! 

I'm 36, and don't have much to show for it.  He should be proud! 

But, truly, sometimes people just get into a funk that only they can get themselves out of.  I think showing him love and support from the heart is the best thing you can do for anyone who is down.  What form it takes isn't as important as keeping your heart open. 

And if that all sounds a little too ethereal, then I suggest looking into some activity he enjoys.  A Baseball game or a hike or a Concert.  Those sorts of activities can be energizing and make a person feel less old. 

Just my $0.25  .  Happy Birthday Julia's Dad    

[Paige]

So I looked up the median age of people in the UK.  Apparently it's 40.5, therefore more than half of the people in the UK are older than him. 

Oops sorry I could have sworn you said you were from the UK.  Oh well the US has a slightly younger median population.



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_median_age

[Bari Jo]

Nothing says you've still got it like a wink from a cute girl.  Have a waitress flirt with him for a side tip.  Don't tell anyone you did it, or it ruins it.  I did this for my sister too:)

Bari Jo

[Julia1996]

Nothing says you've still got it like a wink from a cute girl.  Have a waitress flirt with him for a side tip.  Don't tell anyone you did it, or it ruins it.  I did this for my sister too:)

Bari Jo

That's one of the things I don't get about his getting older worries. Women hit on him all the time! That should tell him something. If he doesn't stop with this silly nonsense I'm going to make him some prune juice and a can of ensure for dinner, buy him a walker and put him to bed at 6 o'clock.
Julia

[Artesia]

That's one of the things I don't get about his getting older worries. Women hit on him all the time! That should tell him something. If he doesn't stop with this silly nonsense I'm going to make him some prune juice and a can of ensure for dinner, buy him a walker and put him to bed at 6 o'clock.
Julia

You could always do that to yourself, and when your heading off to bed make some comment about you young ones staying up to all hours when you need your sleep, and to tone it down because you don't want the noise that you young people make.

[KathyLauren]

When people complain about getting old, I remind them that there's only one alternative, and it sucks.  Okay, I guess that probably won't help.

Seriously, though, I really only started living at 40.  I started doing things that I enjoyed instead of what I was "supposed to".  The forties are the decade when you have enough experience to have fun being good at anything you do, while still having good enough health to enjoy it all.

My sixties are shaping up to be my best decade ever, but my forties were not far behind.

[Kylo]

Tell me about it. My mother was convinced she'd die at 40 and seems disappointed she didn't because she's been freaking out about age ever since.

Someone obsessed with it probably won't listen. But they'll get over it.