What does 27 feel like?

I recently celebrated my 27th birthday and was asked on multiple occasions, "So how's it feel to be 27?". I didn't know how to respond, naturally I wanted to say I feel like a train wreck and that I hope it gets better. I have spent the last three years having babies, my body is a wreck and so are my hormones. I am more exhausted than I have ever thought humanly possible. I eat, sleep and breathe my two beautiful boys. How do you think I feel? And I wanted to answer "Probably not like most 27 year olds." Which got me thinking and so I googled, " What's it like to be 27" with some glimmer of hope that someone could tell me what I was supposed to be doing with my life- besides turning on Mickey Mouse for a potty break and making bottles at 2 and 4 AM.  Where would the normal- Childless- 27 year old be.

* I say normal by the way because I still feel thrown into being a mom of two. One child I feel would be drastically different than two, so my life feels new or abnormal- not effortless (like it was before I had my kids).

The top four articles confirmed everything I was feeling, all the things I wanted to say to these people.  Life was not as I expected it would be even just 3 years ago;  But it was also no reason to compare my life to a crisis. 

According to these articles 27 is a pretty grim place to be. One title " 9 depressing reasons why 27 is the crisis year"  and "27 club" a list of people who have all died at 27. 27 is the make it or break it year apparently. We are fresh out of college, up to our eye balls in debt, feeling lost, being stuck between an adult with a learners permit and actual adulthood. But it's losing your brain- and quite literally, your body and hormones have all changed drastically and you may or may not be with child or unemployed or even worse all of the above. Essentially I woke up and everything has changed. UH I'm sorry, is that all? How does any one have that type of outlook on life and get up enough nerve to change it; That discription seems pretty bleak.

 

Here's what 27 feels like to me. Abnormal.  I feel like the magician's bird who was just changed to a woman. Quite literally a black and white difference.  So lets go back to my 25th birthday.I don't count my 26th birthday- because I was VERY pregnant and with an 11 month old.

 

There I was no kids, although I was pregnant; I still was entirely unaware at how much my life would be changing welcoming this one little boy into my life- and additionally welcoming another little boy into my life almost exactly a year later.I was clueless. I was a month before my due date and none of the mommy body signs had started to show- besides the swollen ankles. My job was to stay at home, drink water and sleep or whatever made my heart content on that day. My favorite pastime was quilting, singing and driving. My biggest fear was childbirth.

Or even more drastic lets go back to my 24th birthday which was spent with a bunch of beautiful girls dresses to the 9's, the red lip, the pumps and the hair. Perfect boobs saying hello from the low cut neckline of my dress. Having just finished another pinup photoshoot we were feeling on top of the world.

 

Today,  35lbs over weight with not so perfect breasts , about 5 hours short of a good nights sleep, my hair needs a good washing and I should've picked up razors at the store today. I've watched more Mickey this week than I have  anything else, likewise I have drank more coffee than I have anything else. My favorite pastimes are paying off bills and sleeping, oh, and eating a meal that's still hot.  Today my biggest fear is what kind of world are my children going to grow up in and how do I prepare them adequately.

 

But I am so much more than all that. I am a woman who loves her man fiercely, even though some days I am not myself.

 

I am a protective mama bear who would die protecting her cubs.

 

I am a CFO- for our family unit. I have paid off 12k in debt in 6 months. Which is now my success.

 

I am a best friend, a sister and a daughter, a chef, a maid, a baker, a nurse, a chauffer and the list goes on. I have learned in my 27 years how to treat those I love and how to make them feel my love and admiration.  I have learned to over come hardships and how to bake bread.

 

My life is not as I would have ever pictured it even just five years ago but change is always a constant isn't it? Things are always changing.

 

So I can confidently say that as a 27 year old mom to two boys I love with every fiber of my being and a wife to an amazing man. I am a changed woman. Physically, emotionally, mentally. Forever.

 

Love & Grilled Cheese,

Ashley

 

 



The four articles:

 

 1. 9 depressing reasons why 27 is your crisis year.

2. Highly Educated, Highly Indebted: The Lives of Today's 27-Year-Olds, In Charts

3.Old Age Begins at 27.

4.The 27 Club.