Aches, pains, mobility issues and impending death are just some of the things we can look forward to in our forties
Do you remember when you were a small child, and your parents seemed as if they were relics from a bygone era?
Going to work, disciplining you, being able to drive and (supposedly) liking vegetables - all those adult attributes just seemed so alien at the time.
Of course, once you get a bit older all those sayings you used to roll your eyes at make sense.
"You're only as young as you feel", "age is just a number", and the old "life begins at..." classic.
All true - if you're an adult.
Not so much if you're a youngster yourself - and especially these children, who were asked to describe how 40 must feel.
And according to them, life pretty much ends at 40.
Twitter user Dan Thomas spotted the observations in a 'Happy Birthday (you poor old wreck)', by Helen Exley.
And in spite of the blithe, childhood innocence with which they were written, he found they did in fact strike a chord. Not just with him, but with other adults.
@adinaINdc @dan_thom what's worse is I was just moaning about my aching legs
— Simon Smith (@smithsmm) May 15, 2016
Young Patrick Gaughan predicted mobility issues and an unbearable exhaustion, to which Dan commented, "This morning, these feel pretty accurate."
@dan_thom @charity_edwards Have these kids been reading my diary?
— JC Superstar (@janecar73) May 15, 2016
But perhaps it's eight-year-old Jennifer Turner whose prediction was the most unnerving, saying:
"I am forty. I am turning old. I just left work because I cannot manage going up and down hills.
"I know I will soon die."
(Mirror)
