I have recently been asked what I like about my thirties and have spent some time thinking about it. Today I have been in my thirties for three years, and it has taken awhile to come to this conclusion: I like my thirties because I have figured out what I like. When my son, Cole, was little, one day he wouldn't eat some kind of food I had made. I asked him why and he said, "I don't love it." I was incredulous and started to lecture my very young son on how we often have to do things we don't like, be around people we wouldn't rather, and eat stuff for the sake of finishing all our food, blah, blah, blah. I didn't say it (that time.) His seemed like a valid argument and I was tired of getting in arguments with toddlers and losing, frankly. Then, one day, I was at my favorite clothes store to buy a shirt. I wandered back to the sale rack and looked through the slim pickings. I held one up that looked okay. It was on sale for quite a bit. I didn't especially like the color, though. Or the style. Or anything about it, really. But it was on sale! Then, I heard a little boy's voice in the back of my mind say, "I don't love it." I put the shirt back on the rack. How many times had I bought something on sale that I really didn't like? Wouldn't it be worth it to buy a few pieces for full price that I really liked, even loved, than a bunch of stuff that was *eh*?
Facing the world with this attitude has helped me figure out what I'm really like. I like dogs, but I can't own one. I've tried multiple times (sorry Mom.) I like having short hair and I think Emma Watson looks fabulous. I have figured out that I can be picky about food. I like stopping when I'm full. I don't like leggings. I know women who do and who look good in them, but I am not one of them. I don't like being pregnant. I love the babies, and it IS worth it, but every second of my pregnancies seemed like I was in a marathon in which both of my shoelaces were untied, I had just eaten a huge plate of pasta covered in Alfredo sauce, I had drunk too much, and there was no bathroom anywhere in sight.
I don't like big purses. My things get lost in there. I know I have four kids and I should be carrying wet-wipes and changes of clothes for every one of them, but I don't like it. And as you get older, that answer gets more and more acceptable.
I like not having to be matchy-matchy. I like putting together colors that are friends. I can put a turquoise sweater with a coral skirt. I like ordering the same things at the same restaurants. I like Johnny Depp and Reese Witherspoon. I like the way I feel when I wear a silk dress and pointy-toed shoes. I like how good denim hugs my legs and makes my butt look good. I like tasteful animal prints (there's no such thing as a pink cheetah.) I like putting on mascara with my mouth open. I like spraying perfume and stepping into it and twirling.
On this, my thirty-third birthday, I think it is as good a time as any to say that being a soon-to-be single woman who's soon-to-be living in Daybreak, there's still a lot to like.