Want to really gross out your adult kids? Tell them how much fun you’re having

June 3, 2026 — 5:00am

You have reached your maximum number of saved items.

Remove items from your saved list to add more.

Three post-menopausal women walk into a wine bar… Well, it’s not beyond the realm of imagination, is it? Women my age are having fun. But it sure is annoying our offspring.

So many of my girlfriends are leading secret lives so as not to upset their kids. Younger lovers, tattoos, overseas trips, late onset lesbianism, expensive hobbies… Even what they spend on clothes, facials, food shopping or home help are being kept under wraps so as not to displease a judgmental brood.

Sanctimonious progeny are behaving so much like killjoy social workers they should be listening exclusively to Enya and only eating lentils. “A new carpet? Surely this one will see you out,” a friend’s daughter told her recently. My friend is 77. “A memoir! How mortifying! Over my dead body!” another daughter shuddered when told of her mother’s literary ambitions. “Yes, your legs are still good, but a miniskirt just doesn’t go with your face,” a third friend’s daughter admonished. “A nose piercing? Pathetic!” a pal’s son........

© The Age