The Advantages of Being an Older Parent

"In a few months' time, my father will celebrate his 91st birthday and apart from an arthritic hip and, as he puts it, 'needing to be jump-started in the mornings,' he's just as sprightly as he ever was, with the same wicked sense of humor. My mother is now 84 and many people think that she is at least 15 years younger! A lot of it comes down to attitude and both of my parents certainly have plenty of that!"

Gavin's Story
Gavin, 26, says that he never once thought of his mother as being any different to the younger mothers of his classmates, particularly since his father was also much younger. Gavin was conceived when his mother, now aged 70, embarked on a second marriage with a man 14 years her junior. At the time of Gavin's birth, his mother was 44 and his father was just 30. Despite disapproval from other family members and jibes that the relationship would never last, his parents are still happily married.

Gavin jokes, "I used to get a kick out of telling people that my mum was 14 years older than my dad and I'm sure that some mates wanted to come round to my house just to gawp. Funny thing is that a couple of them actually had a crush on my mum and I must admit, she did look pretty good for her age—and still does! Despite the chronological age gap, biologically there are no discernible differences between my parents.

"Many people think of older parents as being out of touch with younger generations and of maybe enforcing stricter rules and regulations, but that was absolutely not the case with my mother. I suppose that having a younger husband meant that she was herself young at heart and she was a lot more up-to-date than some of my friends' mothers. In my view, it's not the number of years that you've been on this earth that are important, but the way you think and feel and your attitude in general.

"I had a wonderful upbringing in a house full of love and laughter. That may sound like the stuff from an impossibly romantic movie, but it's true. My mother was the stabilizing influence in both my life and my father's; she still is. She was older, wiser, and more self-assured, and she certainly had a lot more patience than many of my friend's mothers. She has always remained active and when I was little she thought nothing of joining me on the slides and climbing frames at the local park. You should have seen the looks on some of the other parents' faces! Naturally my mates thought she was fantastic and would often say how they wished their mothers were as wacky and fun as my mother!