Dad Gets A Tattoo For His Birthday!
Getting Older
A positive outlook on life begins with a smile.
I have heard many people say, “Age is but a number.” but the older I get the more I tend to disagree with that sentiment. We didn’t have our only child until my 39th birthday and on Monday I will turn 43. Officially, I am past the midpoint of my life and common sense would tell me I have less sunrises in my future than I have seen in my past (I realize it isn’t necessarily true). I can look ahead and know that the year my son graduates high school I will turn 58 years-old.
As a father, I am going to say watching my son on “his” birthday is a joyful experience. As a man, I am going to say “birthday’s suck.” Getting older is part of the circle of life. We are born, we age, we pay taxes and we die. All in all, it sounds like a pretty dull existence. I could make this post a depressing post but I thought it more practical to discuss the “unseen” benefits of getting older.
Positive Things About Aging
1. AARP – Everyone wants to feel wanted and needed. Once you hit your forties you are on the AARP’s (American Association of Retired Persons) watch list! You aren’t able to join the AARP until you turn 50 and they begin the count down for eligibility around your 40th birthday (don’t be surprised if you receive an occasional reminder about your age in the mail).
2. Discounts – You no longer have to look for a bargain or a sale. The discounts begin to look for you the older you get. If you are really lucky they will “automatically” apply the senior discounts to whatever you are buying without anyone ever asking your age.
3. Aches and pains – As you get older you will quickly discover that you have more aches and pains then when you were younger. It is entirely possible that your back will go out more than you do. The nice thing about the various pains is that you can go back to the mentality that winning is everything. You can compare body aches and pains with your friends and feel like a winner again when you have the worst pains (you could also feel like a winner when you have the least amount of pain for the week).
Midlife Crisis or New Tattoo
I am not one to take getting older without a fight. My granny told me that “Getting old gracefully was for the birds! Fight it every step of the way!” I believe there is a lot of truth in that statement. The only time in a person’s life they “might” want to get older is when they are very little and wish they were an adult. It isn’t until we are much older that we realize be careful what you wish for…YIKES!
Since I am not overly fond of growing older and I don’t believe in the term midlife crisis (see Midlife Crisis – Dads New Tattoo). I believe a midlife crisis mean I have nothing to look forward too in life and as I have stated before that is “bull crap.” In fact, one of the ways I planned to celebrate my birthday was to get one more tattoo (my fourth and probably last). I realize tattoos are not for everyone. Many people tend to look unfavorably on anyone that has a tattoo and have condescending remarks about them. In my opinion, some of the smartest, most helpful and friendliest people I have ever met have had a tattoo.
Every tattoo I have has great personal meaning to me. I am not a person to get tattoos randomly. You would never even know I had one tattoo unless I allowed you to see it (they are all covered by clothing). When my son was born I wanted to get a tattoo that represented him and it has taken me three years to come up with an idea that I liked. I had the tattoo done before my surgery last month (see How To Help A Child Cope With Worry). I know it was a minor surgery but something about it prompted me to get the tattoo early. My son’s name is Xander and I have nicknamed him X-Man (yes, I liked X-Men growing up). The tattoo is on the back of my calf and represents my son’s date of birth and my favorite X-Man character, Wolverine.
Wolverine Rocks
Everyone should get a tattoo for their birthday!
I think, earlier in the post when I stated that “birthday’s suck” I was wrong. I realize I have AARP, more discounts and body aches in my future but I also have something else, a future unwritten. The future is what I want to make it. I believe having fun, enjoying life and maintaining a positive outlook are all elements of a long and happy future. My way of expressing my life and accomplishments was by getting a new tattoo for my birthday. Who knows on my 100th birthday maybe I will get a tattoo celebrating “my first 100 years!“
I might not like getting older but I realize it is inevitable. Staying positive helps keep me feeling young. How do you feel about your own birthday? Do you ever do anything for yourself to celebrate your own birthday? or do you just skip the day and hope everyone will forget about it? Tell me in the comments!
You can read my last post here: Should Children Believe In Santa? If you like this post you can follow me on my facebook fan page, Dadblunders.
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Tags: common sense, forties, positive outlook, sentiment
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You are right about AARP, I believe I got my first notice from them when I was around 38 or 39. I recently turned 41. I thought I would take it hard but so far so good. I still get carded when buying liquor. Yay me!! I guess I don’t like thinking that I’m now in my 40s. I was ok with turning 40, but now I’m over 40 and I’m in my 40s. It’s weird. Jae Mac, I’m Just Sayin’…(Damn!)
Jae,
I am not sure what computer program the AARP uses but I am sure it is connected in with vital statistics. I actually wasn’t sure whether to feel a little insulted about receiving a notice from them or flattered that they thought of me…..lol
Aaron
Aaron,
Dude, no way. 12/10/12? You and Andi-Roo? SQUEE!!!! Her son’s is the 11th, Tuesday, Gina’s is the 12th (12/12/12) and mine is the 15th! Me and Beethoven. He’ll be 242, I’ll only be 57. This is awesome! I, too, as if you couldn’t tell, am not growing old, “gracefully.” So, we have all these cool December babies running around. Neat-0, keen! Happy Birthday. Get a tattoo. Me? I’m going to gorge on animal cookies and ice cream and do “Gangnam Style,” and have a “Psych” marathon on Hulu+ as long as my PD and bipolarness lets me!
Mary,
I actually didn’t know both of us celebrated a birthday on the same day until you told me! I knew I liked Andi-Roo for a reason!All of us December babies have to stick together! We are all adventurers and have the heart of explorers for new ideas and concepts (unfortunately they say we also get bored easily and have to move on to the next great adventure)!
Aaron
Hey Aaron
It’s the big 40 for me next year and I can definitely feel myself getting older. At one time I would never have been able to fall asleep in front of the TV but now it’s highly likely I’ll do that quite often!
My parents are taking me and the family away next June to celebrate my birthday which will be great. I’m already looking forward to it. Generally though, I just tend to celebrate my recent birthdays with my wife and kids.
Tim,
Nothing like getting older! I know my energy level isn’t what it was when I was 20 but at the same time its a lot higher than other people I know that are my age. I like to believe it is my 3-year-old and chasing him around that keeps me young….lol….I can’t ever let him see me sweat!
Aaron
Happy bday, Aaron! To both of us! I’m not celebrating till this weekend, so I have declared this entire week MINE, & plan to enjoy every day of it.
I have a funny story for you with regard to my sister turning 30 a few years ago. She is a rule-following goody-two-shoes who never did a rebellious thing in her life. Upon approaching the age of 30, she realized she didn’t want her “youthful” years to be behind her having done nothing that kind of rocked convention. So I took her to get her nose pierced. I’ve been so proud of her for that!
And it made me think about how we all celebrate our lives differently. Me? I am rambunctious & rock boats daily. So I don’t really need to get a tat or piercing, cuz that’s something I might consider doing just for the heck of it during the normal course of things, regardless of bday rationalization. So while you & my sis are celebrating in high style by making a point of not letting the day go unnoticed (for which I love you both dearly!), I am actually taking a day to chill & do a whole lot of NOTHING.
Now next week is a whole different story. I’m dying my hair blue & purple.
Andi,
You have to make sure you get plenty of pictures when you dye your hair! I have already done that myself and I discovered that blue and purple just didn’t flatter my cowboy hat the right way (now hot pink was a totally different story)!
I like to think I am rocking not only rocking the boat of conventionality but sinking that sucker in a shallow pond! Who wants to be normal? It is far overrated and teaches our children very little about expressionism.
I seriously didn’t know we shared a birthday until today! I always knew there was a reason I connect with you. It is our free thinking, adventurous spirits that brought us together (now if we only didn’t get so easily bored and have to look for new adventures all the time)!
Happy Birthday to you too my friend!!!
Aaron