Later Mom Testimonial By Sharon Johnson O’Donnell, Author

If you are a “later mom,” chances are you will find yourself taking your elderly mother to a doctor’s appointment one day and working at your 11-year-old’s school book fair the next day. Not to mention possibly being able to schedule a dental appointment for yourself to get yet another crown (what happens to a woman’s teeth after the age of 45 anyway?)

Forget that old commercial about bringing home the bacon and frying it up in a pan (sing it with me: and never ever letting him forget he’s a man) – that was the “test” of being a superwoman? That was nothing. The later moms of the world can do all that and much more, all while suffering the early effects of pelvic floor problems (hypothetically speaking, of course!)

I’m proud to be a later mom. I was also at one time a mom of an average age, having
had my first two sons when I was 29 and 32; however, I had my third, and last, son at the ripe old age of 38. My mom was also a later mom because she had me when she was 38, and one of my sisters also had her last child at 38 (the other sister had her two children when she was 22 and 26 – of course she was excommunicated from the family).

There are advantages and disadvantages to being a mom later in life, but society is so incredibly youth-oriented, we don’t hear a lot about the advantages. Why does the medical community term us “advanced maternal age” or even the awful “geriatric mom” – which makes it sound like we are putting in our dentures while breastfeeding our babies?

We are a community of women that has unreal internal and external strengths, deep wisdom, and an appreciation of life. It is wonderful for me to know that Motherhood Later gives us a place to encourage and advise each other; a place to vent to others who truly understand; a place to write about our poignant, heartfelt moments as well as the comical ones – even when some stupid louse mistakes us for our child’s grandmother. Joining with other moms like me is a motivating force, propelling me to take a deep breath and plunge head first into what I need to accomplish for the day or the week or the year.

We’ve got something good going, and we know it. We’re moms of “a certain age” and wouldn’t have it any other way. And as my older two boys set off for college in the fall, I’m so glad I will have my youngest one home with me.

BIO

Sharon Johnson O’Donnell, mom of 3 sons (ages 19, 16, and 10), is a published author and award-winning columnist. Her humor book, House of Testosterone – One Mom’s Survival in a Household of Males , was named a BookSense notable book selection and was then published in paperback by Houghton Mifflin. Sharon blogs weekly for MotherhoodLater.com and has written for Good Housekeeping and Better Homes & Gardens, as well as greeting cards for Blue Mountain Arts. She teaches writing workshops in schools. For more information, visit MomsOfBoys.org.

Tags: Later Mom Testimonial, Sharon Johnson O’Donnell