In, let’s see, 9 days or so, I will be 30. Apparently, I am supposed to be monumentally upset about this, as have been many of my friends.
I’m not.
For those above the age of 30, was turning 30 a traumatic experience for you? Do you claim to be younger than that now? Why is this supposed to be such a big deal?
30 was no big deal at all for me. 40, on the other hand, threw me a real turn. More from a career standpoint than an “I’m getting old!” standpoint.
Oddly, I’ve found my male friends more upset by 30, and my female friends by 40.
Happy birthday!
Nope, turning 30 was no big deal (my birthday was last January). I think it helps that the SO is 13 years older than me. He didn’t feel much sympathy for the big 3-0.
I agree with you, Eve, 30 didn’t bother me a bit. My husband, however, took it pretty hard. Even now though, when someone asks my age I usually say 'twent- uh, Thirty-one ’
I worked good and goddamn hard for every one of these 31 years and I’m proud of 'em.
Put me down for the “it didn’t phase me at all” camp. Strangely, the birthdays that do seem harder for me are the ones that follow the big milestones - 22 and 26 were both big downers. So maybe my crash will come next year - for my 31st.
Naaaaaaaaaaaah.
Charley.
I turned 30 last November, and I hated hated hated hated hated it, for a couple of reasons:
–My mother was 30 when I was 8; my father was 30 when I was 6. I can’t help remembering how old I thought they were then, and thinking that children that young will perceive me as old.
–My twenties, my beautiful, wonderful twenties, are gone forever. 
–I spent the three months prior to my birthday in a cast, in surgery, on crutches, or some combination of the three. This didn’t make me any less depressed or make me feel any less old.
–Nowhere to go from here but . . . 40!
But happy upcoming birthday, anyway, Kim! 
Nope 30 was OK. 25 was rough. My husband was in another country. (I was supposed to be with him, but Canada wouldn’t let me have a job and we couldn’t afford for me to not work.) We had been trying for 3 years to have a baby. I hadn’t finish college (oh still haven’t, doesn’t bother me anymore). Thirty was no big deal. I think 35 is going to kill me. I have a hard time thinking of my husband as 35. I have no explanation.
Gotta agree with Charlie here… 30 was no big deal. For me, ever since 23, it’s all been down hill…
Cheere up - it ain’t nothin’ but a number… How old you feel is what really counts. Personally, right now, I feel like two 18 year old girls - but my wife would kill me .
KimKatt,
Isn't turning 30 better than NOT turning 30? 40 is harder, but I survived both.I’m 34, and I was enormously relieved to turn 30 - because everybody was cracking jokes about it when I was 27, 28, 29. But I did grab the opportunity to throw a mean party, of course.
Nope, I don’t claim to be younger, never did - although I very nearly kissed the cute ticket saleswoman who asked if I was under 26 just two weeks ago.
I don’t know your local traditions, but around here turning 30 without being married traditionally carries a bit of a stigma. It’s mostly (but somehow not entirely) a joke now.
A female friend of mine panicked at about 28, desperately trying to hook herself a husband (I have no idea why that should be so hard - I’d marry her in a second, but I digress…) - and when she got round the sharp bend (unmarried), she too relaxed and took it way easier.
Enjoy your birthday!
i hit 30 a coupe of weeks ago. I had some reservations, as if I had a choice!, but I think it has a nice ring to it, I feel, I don’t know, somewhat grown-up. it’s only been a couple of weeks, and personally I can only see it getting better. Happy Birthday!
The milestone birthdays, 21, 30, and 40 came and went without much more than a glance. 25 and 35 were killers.
For my 25th birthday, somebody slapped me in the face with the “quarter of a century” line. Somehow it hit hard.
For my 35th birthday, reality set in. We have an average life expectancy of just over 70 years. That means that having reached 35 years I’ve lived half of my life! Put another way, my life’s half over.
Now THAT was sobering.
I just turned 30 last year, and the only thing that really hit me was sitting around thinking “boy did I waste my twenties”. That was about it.
I just (as in yesterday) turned 32. Didn’t seem to be a big deal. Although I did hate turning 30 because it does signal the 20’s are over, your youthful adult years are toast, and it’s all downhill from here.
But I’m over it now. until 40 gets close…
True for me too. I thought 30 would be hard, but when it came around I realized that I never really have fit in to ‘traditional’ molds for anything–why should age be any different. I spent my twenties being resentful that I was raising a family and making a home–something most of my friends would do in their thirties. Once I hit 30 I was back in college and I felt younger, in a strange way, than I had for a long time. It’s only as big a deal as you let it be. I let 25 be a big deal. That was dumb. I won’t do it again.
Oh, and Zero? Happy Birthday. smooch
I thought 30 was great and now I hear that my life will soon be half over??? Um, thanks.
I think I have a good chance of living way too long (barring accidents) so I will consider 50 my personal halfway point thankyouverymuch.
I personally think women get so much better looking after they pass thirty, with Lola just a year away from that marker I can’t wait to see what happens… if she is gorgeous now what will she be like when she hits her peak?
I’ve started taking vitamins in anticipation…LOL.
30? No probl.
However, the idea of turning 33 in a few months is getting a little harder. Not because of the age per se, but because I’m hearing that biological clock ticking and don’t really want to have children right now.
Nothing like a little PRESSURE!!! to make life interesting!
I turned 30 shortly before pldennison did; merely a few days, IIRC. I think I was more upset that I didn’t get a big party thrown for me than actually turning 30.
I honestly don’t miss my twenties. It was a rough decade for me on a number of different levels and I’m kinda looking forward to seeing what I can do with myself with all the hindisight I’ve accumulated.
However, if I’m still doing the same thing I’m doing now when I’m 40, I will hire one of you to put the hit out on me. 'Cos that means I’ll have done nothing I planned to do and it’ll be too late.
Congratulations on the big Three-Oh, KimKatt. I hope your thirties are as interesting for you as I plan to make mine. 
30 was no big deal. Of course, nothing much changed in terms of job, family (cept for having one more kid afterwards), general area where I live, etc. And at 30 school didn’t seem that long ago. At 30, there are some professional athletes, etc. who were born in the same decade as you. My parents were still alive. My kids were pretty young.
This November I’ll be 40. The number alone doesn’t mean much. Mrs. D. has asked if I want a party or something. I’m pretty uncomfortable with the idea of a party for which I am the reason.
While the number is no big deal, I certainly feel like I’ve been piling up a few years. Things hit you all the time.
The sign says “you must have been born on this date in 1979 to buy alcohol.” Hell, on my b-day in 79 I was legal!
You look at bios of actors, athletes, etc, and they were born TWO DECADES later than you.
An athelete 5-8 years younger than you is considered a fossil.
Your kids get “adult-sized.”
Your idea of “new” music is several years old, and you realize you know little of the current music/culture scene.
You often find yourself saying things your parents used to say.
You realize you generally have more in common with people 10 years older than you, than 10 years older.
You realize things you think happened relatively recently happened more than a decade ago.
Yep, that pretty much sums up what makes me feel kinda old - measuring things in decades.