Stuff No One Told Me About Your 20's versus Your 30's

I'm in my 30's. This seems quite ridiculous when I feel like I did when I was 18 (most of the time). When I turned 30, people tried to jazz it up a bit.

"Welcome to your dirty 30's!"
(One: Huh? Two: If you mean dirty as in unclean like my house, or my food-spattered child, then you're spot on.)
"Welcome to club 30!"
(I liked being in club 20. I was happy there with the cool kids. I don't want to be in your stupid old person club.)
"30 is the new 20!"
(And what's 20? The new 10? This makes no sense. Shut up)
"At least you're not 40."
(Now that's more like what I want to hear. In the meantime, my husband, who is a decade older than me, suddenly excuses himself to the bathroom to apply more anti-wrinkle cream... and cry.

I handled turning 30 quite well. Maybe it was the novelty of hitting a new decade of life? Maybe because I got to have a party? It was when I turned 31 I suddenly felt a sense of grief and loss for my 20's.

Then I did some research* regarding people in their 30's. A lot of these people seemed to be enjoying the decade. Carrie from Sex and the City is in her 30's (for most of the series) and I thought, "If being 30 is anything like that, I'm in for a great time". Then I mentally constructed this checklist:

Differences between Carrie and Me:

Carrie - Well off.
Me - Often broke.

Carrie - Sexy.
Me - No so much.

Carrie - Lives in New York City.
Me - Lives a mere 16000km from New York.

Carrie - Fashionista.
Me - Likes to wear tracksuit pants (have a pair affectionately dubbed 'ol faithful I have had for 12 years) or pyjamas.

Carrie - Loves shoes.
Me - Loves slippers.

Carrie - Unmarried (mostly).
Me - Married.

Carrie - Has a lot of sex.
Me - I'm married, remember?

Carrie - Childless.
Me - Owns a toddler.

Carrie - Is a writer (glamorous).
Me - Works in the public health system (Enough said).

Carrie - Fictional.
Me - Real.

Conclusion: I'm obviously no Carrie Bradshaw. Dirty 30's, what a crock.

So I may no longer be in my 20's, but that's not to say that my 30's can't be great. Right? 30's are just different to 20's. Same me, different decade.

20's versus 30's

20's	30's
Good metabolism.	What metabolism?
Exercised - Body sprung back well. No injuries.	Exercise - Too hard. Prefer not to bother. Debate regularly as to whether just to start Lite 'n' Easy and hope to one day afford liposuction.
Spent trying not to get pregnant.	Spent trying to get pregnant.
All about appearance over comfort.	Comfort/laziness outweighs appearance - Regularly wear PJs to drop Mr. Mandie at station in morning.
Spent a lot of time trying to impress others.	Don't even notice others.
Drink of choice - Vodka and anything. Passion Pop (ew). Binge-style on weekends.	Drink of choice - wine. Any wine, probably too often.
Lots of socialising.	Can't be bothered.
Worked in a servo, got paid a pittance.	Work in health. Get paid slightly more than a pittance.
Rented a big place in a less than savory part of town.	Own a shoe-box in a trendy part of town.
Staple diet - Big Mac and chocolate thickshake.	Staple diet - wine and the small child's left over food (sometimes half chewed).
Boyfriend.	Husband.
Occasionally pimply skin, but smooth and youthful.	Seriously concerned I am beginning to display all "7 signs of ageing" simultaneously and am still occasionally pimply (I went through puberty 20 years ago. Lose the pimples already, body.)
Wavering levels of self-assuredness. Harsh on self.	Much more self assured. More harsh on self
Used the "F-word" way too much?	Still partial to dropping the "F" word.
Felt young, was young.	Feel young. Am old.

Ok, so there are certainly differences between 20 and 30. I am definitely older (can't fight that one), but I would like to think with age comes strength and self-confidence through self-awareness. I feel that my 30's freak-outs are balanced out by my 30's (dubious) maturity.

No one told me being 30+ doesn't make me any different a person. Getting older doesn't make me any different a person. It's all the wonderful experiences that come along with moving through a new decade of life that make me not a different me, but a better, more worldy version of me.

An older, wrinklier, mortgage-paying, wine-swilling, baby-carrying, trackie-wearing, naughty word using, exercise avoidant, socially-restricting, underpaid, confident, assured, contented mother, friend, daughter and wife.

You know what? I think I quite like the 30-something me.


*Research methods were solely restricted to watching TV.