This is my Mom POV. Not the glossy Instagram version where 50 is the new 30. Not the tragic version where I mourn my lost youth. But the real, gritty, hilarious, and sometimes terrifying view from the passenger seat of a 2023 Honda Odyssey that smells like spilled coffee and dried lavender essential oil. Society tells you that turning 50 as a woman is where you become invisible. The male gaze moves on. The marketing firms forget you exist. At the grocery store, young cashiers call you "Ma'am" with a tone usually reserved for antique furniture.
I have mourned this. Some days, I feel a loneliness so vast I could fall into it. My "village" has scattered. The other soccer moms moved to Florida or got divorced and moved to the city. I text them sporadically. It's not the same. Mom POV Rhonda 50 Year Old With
You are doing great. Your house is messy enough. Your kids are loved enough. You will survive the chaos. This is my Mom POV
The Mom POV at 50 is a wide-angle lens. I see the past—the sleepless nights of 1998 when my daughter had croup. I see the future—the potential of a quiet house, a garden I actually have time to weed, a novel I keep saying I'll write. And I see the present, which is mostly just me trying to figure out what to make for dinner that doesn't involve chicken. My husband, Dave, is also 52. We have been married for 28 years. For a solid decade between 35 and 45, we were excellent business partners in the firm of Child-Rearing LLC. We traded shifts. We divided laundry. We communicated via text about who was picking up the antibiotics. But the real, gritty, hilarious, and sometimes terrifying
Is that patriarchal? Maybe. Is it my choice? Absolutely. The Mom POV at 50 can be startlingly quiet. The playdates are over. The slumber parties are a memory. The school drop-off line, which was my social lifeline for 18 years, is gone.
I am not done. That is the point of this POV.
Hot flash at the PTA meeting? I excuse myself, walk to the bathroom, and press my wrists against the cold marble sink. I do not apologize. I am Rhonda, 50 years old, with a fan permanently stationed in my purse.
