My husband and I are now both in our 50s. With our two younger children aged 15 and 10, we sometimes find ourselves thinking that we may be too old for this. We often get a good laugh about possible scenarios encountered by older parents like us. We have no regrets whatsoever with our family but we have to admit that there are both hits and misses when it comes to older parenting.

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Maturity

Generally, emotional maturity is a hit in older parenting. This is not say however that all older parents can claim to have emotional maturity but age and experience certainly have their way of teaching people to develop it. Most older parents have already reached a certain level of clarity of what they want in their lives with many having the chance to act on them while single. It would be a safe bet to say that more older parents are better prepared for parenthood than their much younger counterparts.

Generation Gap

This is a probable miss among older parents who have several decades of life ahead of their children. It becomes especially so if older parents are unable to adjust to the times when it comes to parenting style. Parents as figures of authority only has long been passe. They are now expected to be friends as well with their children. With the right balance, older parents can bridge the gap or better yet avoid it.

Health

It is not very definitive whether health condition of older parents is a clear hit or miss. There are medical studies that say children born from older parents are usually healthier while studies showing the contrary also exist. What is clear however is that older parents have to face more medical issues compared to much younger parents. The critical thing here is that this can happen while the children are very young and this presents a very difficult situation for the family. Children are expected to take care of their parents when they are old and sick but how can they do that if they are too young to even take care of themselves?

My Say

During parents' meetings in our children's school, we are admittedly one of the few couples who are considered older parents. One couple was even mistakenly taken as grandparents by one young mother who was eager to socialize. It is a tribute to the couple's maturity when they showed no embarrassment or discomfort with the mistake. In fact, it was the young mother who got so flustered with her mistake that she quickly left after mumbling a quick apology.

That said, on a more personal note, my husband and I have no qualms about our age. We do not "compete" with other parents and concentrate on simply being good parents to our kids. We focus our attention on creating happy memories as a family because unlike younger parents, we may not have as much luxury in time.