Welcome to the Only Child Diaries podcast. I'm your host, tracy Wallace. Have you ever felt like you didn't receive the how-to brochure on life, that you didn't get enough guidance about major life issues? So did I. You don't have to be an only child to feel this way. In my podcast, we'll explore some of the best ways to better navigate adulting, while doing so with humor and light. Welcome everyone to the Only Child Diaries podcast.

Today, I'm going to talk about kids. Yes, I'm going to talk about children and young people and being around them. Yes, it's true, I don't have children of my own. I have my pets and I've always had my animals, and I find that kids are well, kids are a unique relationship for me.

When I was growing up if you've been a regular listener, you know that I wasn't always around children a lot of my own age. Of course I was at school and I had my friends. Of course I was at school and I had my friends, but there was a good portion of my time spent with adults only. Of course, my parents and my parents' events. My dad was a member of the Masonic Lodge and they often took me along on those events and I was very often the only child on the trip or at the event or in the room. So I got pretty comfortable as comfortable as I could be being the only child in the room talking to adults. I got pretty comfortable being around adults. So as I grew up that was where I was comfortable. People my own age and even now that I'm grown up I'm not really that comfortable with kids. I don't really know what to say to children. I've never had children of my own and I haven't really spent a lot of time babysitting or dealing with children. I don't have a lot of friends with children of their own. I haven't really spent time with children. So sometimes I'm presented with a situation where I feel kind of at a loss of what to say or how to react.

Recently I was out in public and there was a fairly cute child, a girl, and she looked up at me and she was kind of mocking what I was saying. Her dad was pretty nice and she was taking pleasure and kind of repeating some of the things that I said and that was okay, I didn't take any offense at that. And then at the end, as she was walking away, her dad was farther ahead. She looked up at me with kind of a precocious, mischievous look on her face and she said you look like an old lady. And I laughed it off. Her dad was on the phone and he turned around and said, hey, her dad was on the phone and he turned around and said hey. But I admit, at first I was kind of insulted and then my feelings were rather hurt for the next day or two, reflecting back on that.

I mean, I admit I am an older lady. I don't know if I'm categorized as old yet, but I guess if you're three or four I am an old lady. So it's something that you have to get used to, right? And then I find myself in situations nowadays when I'm around people who are 18, 20 years old and I do really enjoy being around younger people like that. I feed off their energy.

But it's different these days than it was even 10 years ago, because I recognize that there is a difference. Right, there's a bigger gap and whereas in my brain I still feel like I'm well, depending on the day, I still feel like I'm 30 or maybe 35. My body says something different about me. I mean, this is the sad part about aging is that your brain and your mind feels one way, but your body tells you something else entirely.

So I've known people that have hit 40 and have felt like they don't want to reveal their real age. They want to stay in their 30s and they want to kind of pretend that they're in their 30s because they don't want to age and they want to remain youthful, I guess for lack of a better term but I guess I feel that age is something that you've earned and there are good things about being older. I mean, in a way, I'm still trying to figure out what those things are, but I'm trying to appreciate where I am age-wise. I mean, I have more knowledge, right, I may be more achy or creaky in my joints or creaky in my joints, but that's just a reminder to keep moving, because as you age, the more you move, the better you feel. Your body has to keep moving and that's one lesson that you learn constantly and you relearn. It is that you have to keep moving and that's kind of part of how you stay young, right. But a natural part of aging is just forgetting things and maybe not being as sharp as you used to be, and that's well. I mean, that's what it is right, and that's well. I mean, that's what it is right. So I do appreciate being around people who are younger and people that are older, because we all have something to contribute to the conversation, to the discussion and to this world.

Well, folks, it's short. Today that's all I've got for you, but next week, well, we'll tackle another topic together. I hope you'll join me. If you like this episode, please follow the Only Child Diaries podcast on Apple Podcasts or other platforms you might listen on and consider rating Only Child Diaries and writing a review. It helps others to find us. Please share it with a friend you think might like it as well. Visit my Instagram page Only Child Diaries or Facebook Only Child Diaries Podcast. Thanks for listening. I'm Tracy Wallace and these are the Only Child Diaries.