30 or Two Kids - Reflections on Being Young, Hip and Cool

Side Note:  If you want to know if you are young, hip and cool, spend a day teaching 12th graders.  Act hip and cool.  If they jive with you, you're cool.  But most likely they won't.

Youth is a hot commodity.  The essence of youth is usually somewhere in the early 20's - college and just beyond college.  Old enough to be independent and (somewhat) responsible but young enough to still do crazy things.  TV shows that show people who are cool beyond this age have characters who are still acting like they are in college.  So what does that mean for me?  I'm beyond the "normal" age for being "Young Hip and Cool" (YH&C), but am I really out of it?  Well, here are some of my thoughts on this regarding ages:

20-25:  If you are in this age, you are still YH&C.

26:  At this point, you are only one year out from 25.  To be more precise, you are only months out of the Cool Zone.  You are probably still cool.

27:  Further away, but you're still pretty young.  30 is still a long way off, and if you round to the nearest 5, you are still 25.

28:  Your body isn't quite able to do the things you did in the past - staying out late, eating whatever you want (and not gaining weight), etc.  But you're still 2 years from 30.

29:  You're almost done, but you can still say, "At least I'm not 30".

30:  You're finished.  You're not in your 20's anymore.  You're not YH&C.  If you are one of the few and the proud who can break this almost-rule-of-nature, kudos to you.

All this is thrown out the window by one thing:  two kids.  If you are still in your 20's, but have two kids, you are automatically the essence of responsible and (usually with that) dull.  One kid is a little different:  you have one foot in the grave, but one foot is in the YH&C life.  You can still go out to dinner.  It's not too difficult to find a sitter for a movie.  But two kids?  That's just it.  You're done.   Any one who is YH&C will not distinguish between you and someone who is over 40 (but they will probably distinguish between you and their grandparents).

Alison says I'm not YH&C.  I would appreciate any support.