I am feeling atypically pithy today. This is my favorite sister. Thoughts?
No thoughts except that I got an invitation to my first “real” girlfriend’s birthday party today, she’s turning 40.
Oh my.
Also, gift suggestion?
Edit: Sorry for the hijack, but it was my first thought.
Maybe a book on how life doesn’t end at age x? For the life of me I can’t fathom why anyone would be depressed to be turning 30. I didn’t even feel like my life was underway until at least 25!
Seriously - 30 is when shit really starts getting good. I’ve heard a bunch of people (particularly women) say they’re apprehensive about turning 30, but I’ve never heard anyone in their 30’s complain. It’s always, “Man, am I glad to have my 20’s behind me!”
ETA: And for a gift, is there anything in particular she loves, but feels she “can’t” do anymore, now that she’s “too old”? Go to music shows? Wear youngish fashion? Hang out in bars with friends? Get her something related to that, and reassure her that she’s now old enough to do exactly as she pleases.
A walker? Orthodpedic shoes? Compession socks? The Clapper? I can only think of evil gifts.
I got a very large box of crayons when I turned 30. One of my favortie gifts!
I was feeling bad about turning 50 until my dad said “Try having a son that age!”
I’ll say that for women, it’s partly societal; youth is prized in women. This isn’t as much of a deal for men. I’m a 28 year old woman and I have to say that even though I know, intellectually, that my 30s will probably be a better decade for me than my 20s, I’m freaking out (in an extremely mild way) at turning 30.
It seems like there’s this odd invisible bubble for women that seems to start at 30 and end at probably 45. Between there, you’re not the young pretty things and you’re not at the confident “older” age. I know I’m not expressing this well, but hopefully someone will understand what I mean and say it better. 
<minor thread hijack>
If this is an accurate description of the way most women feel, it’s very sad.
I’m a guy, and I’m 35. Yeah, when I was younger (teens and 20’s) I was really only attracted to young, “hot” women.
But honestly, the older I get, the more I find women my own age–and even slightly older–to be more interesting and alluring…more attractive in general. I work at a private university, and I’m surrounded by women in their late teens and early 20’s. Yes, some of them are beautiful (a select few, distractingly so), but I just ain’t interested. (I’m also happily married, though.)
But thinking purely hypothetically about the kind of woman I would want to date, were I not married, she would HAVE TO BE AT LEAST 30 years old. Preferably my own age. My taste in women seems to have aged well…matured, if I do say so myself.
I know that anthropological and sociological studies have shown that youth is universally the most desirable characteristic for a woman to display, but those study results are HUGE, sweeping generalities. In the same way that not all women are “golddiggers” who are attracted only or primarily to rich and powerful men, I don’t find it remotely true that most men are after young women.
So don’t despair. If there is in fact a societal message suggesting that being a female between 30 and 45 isn’t as desirable, it just ain’t based on fact. At least not anything broadly consistent.
</minor thread hijack> Sorry!
When I turned 30, I was particularly bummed. But I ended up having a spectacular birthday week!
My brother took me to a super super fancy steak place and let me order whatever I wanted.
My best friends took me to an Indians’ game and had my name put on the scoreboard (with a pitch-in from my parents). And my dad went with us too (my dad typically does not attend games, although he’s a fan)
My business partner bought me an amazing present, something I would never thought I’d have (autographed bat)
My roommate went to a concert with me, to see a new band, where the crowd was significantly younger and hipper than us. Something we hadn’t done in like 10 years.
My mom paid for me to spend the day getting my hair cut and colored, and my eyebrows waxed.
Basically I spent the entire week doing stuff I’d never do by myself, or might never do again. People did stuff for me/with me they wouldn’t typically do otherwise, or on any regular old birthday.
Is there something you can do with your sister that you think she would think you would never do with her? Is there something special you know she wants but would never buy for herself? Is there some way she’d like to be pampered? Is there something new/different that you two could experience together?
Today’s my 31st birthday and nothing’s doing for me. But I really don’t care. My 30th was so amazing that the excitement of it will last for the next 9 years!
Traditional gifts for turning 30 are a copy of Logan’s Run and a container of Crisco.
On my thirtieth birthday, I got junk mail offering me burial insurance.
Tell your Sis that turning thirty ain’t so bad, when you consider the alternative.
I’m female and turn 30 in just over a month. Am reading this thread with interest!
(Personally, I feel like I’m “supposed” to freak out over turning The Big <something>-Oh!!! but honestly, I’m pretty relieved to be leaving my twenties behind. Being in a stable relationship probably has a bit to do with that - no anxiety about being young-looking-enough to snag a man!)
Do not mock unless you are certain that the mockery will be well-received. Instead, I’d go with something that celebrates independence and personal power.
How about a Snuggy, a big box of chocolates, and a subscription to Cat Fancy magazine?
Standard, all purpose gift for most women - a coupon for her and 2-3 of her friends for a full day of pampering and luxury at a day spa.
Tell her it’ll be good for her crows feet and cottage cheese thighs - go on, I dare ya!
When I turned 30, I went on a two week Vacation-of-a-Lifetime type vacations. It was pretty awesome. It would have been even better had someone else paid for it, but I didn’t have an older brother to offer to foot the bill.
Gift certificate to Forever 21?
I am a woman and I really can’t be bothered getting concerned about landmark birthdays (this year I’m 35). I think it’s because my father would become such a big moody baby at the thought of mortality brought on by birthdays (for example, refusing to celebrate with or even speak to family, going off on rages or else crying uncontrollably…) which both put a damper on family celebrations and it just came to disgust me what a big honking deal was made about nothing. After some therapy about that, I still don’t care about birthdays or “getting older” nor can I relate to people who think it’s some huge deal. You live, you die, so the fuck what? Enjoy it while you can, what’s the use of borrowing misery over something that cannot ever change? YMMV, of course.
That said, obviously your sis is entitled to her feelings. How about an “experience gift” – something you can do together that she’s “always” wanted to do. Skydive, or ride a horse, or see the Grand Canyon, or whatever “it” is. That would mark the birthday as something positive where she met a goal, or realized a dream.