No one told me about the "second childhood"
It's funny reading posts from people talking about how old they are, how they're changing, how things aren't the same anymore, how they're worried about the future, how they miss their childhoods, how aging is scary, how they miss the wild abandon of their youth, et cetera, et cetera...
As someone with aging parents, I have some (maybe good?) news to share. You get a second childhood! Really. It starts in your 60s. If you're someone who has ever been around old people before, you're probably already aware, but they basically act like teenagers. One day you wake up and realize you're now their parent.
People going through "second childhood" don't listen, they pout, they're stubborn, they stay out late, and they won't tell you when they'll be back. You have to drive them to "play dates" with other old people and find hobbies/classes for them so that they do more with their life than rot their brain with Facebook. They also can no longer be trusted with spending their money wisely, usually wasting their cash on dumb/frivolous things for make-believe grandchildren that don't even exist. My parents have all these qualities now, and I'm not prepared to deal with it.
For some reason, none of the older generations warned me about this. I knew old people became senile as they got older, but no one warned me about the "second childhood." It's a period that happens before complete senility. My parents still work, still drive, are still cognitively fine, it's just they act like teenagers now.
My dad, for example, has worn glasses his whole life. Recently he has decided to not wear them because he thinks they make him look old. He now just drives really slowly while squinting at the road like Mr. Magoo. I told him it was dangerous for him to not drive without his glasses and he just shrugs. "You can't tell me what to do."
My mom is addicted to shopping. She spends her entire social security check on random, cheap crap from Amazon. I told her she needed to start saving her money and be more responsible about her future and she told me, "You can't tell me what to do with my own money."
My once super smart, responsible parents have transformed into surly teenagers.
At first I thought this was just an issue with my parents, but a few months ago I was on r/Millennials and someone posted, "Are your parents acting like teenagers?" Thousands of people commented on how they were going through the exact same thing with their aging parents:
I empathize. After 28 years at her old company my mother accepted a new position 2 hours from her house so she lived with her single friend M-F. It was the first time in over 30 years that she was away from my father and she behaved like a reckless college kid. She started a love triangle between 2 men, threw parties with her roommate, got drunk every night, drunk texted multiple colleagues. Her behavior earned her a bad reputation and she was eventually let go from a very decent paying position. She has absolutely no self control. I have to frequently block AI videos of big-boobed women on YouTube from my father and remind him to wash himself. I’m tired, friend.
So, to all you younger Millennials/Gen Z who are worried about the future, fear not. Don't mourn your childhood or yearn for simpler years because, like most things in life, it's cyclical. Your childhood will return, and it'll happen in your 50s-70s. You'll pierce your ears, you'll ignore your kids, you'll impulsively buy flashy gifts for yourself as you leave Earth on a high.
Enjoy it while it lasts.