Quarter life crisis incoming...

On being home for the holidays and having a December birthday

Yesterday I was getting ID’d in Sainsbury’s for buying a box of Baileys truffles for my colleague. Initially the shop assistant scanned the bar code and pressed ‘visibly over 25’ without too much thought, but as I was paying I could see her looking at me. “I know you’ve paid but please could I see your ID?” I showed her and we both laughed. Today I turned 25.

This sums it up really. As my 26 year-old colleague R and I always say, “we’re just girls.” This is inspired by a TikTok trend that my younger gen Z and gen alpha students probably consider outdated by now—I recently got compared to ‘an old granny who doesn’t understand internet trends. Except we’re not ‘just girls’ because R is buying a house with her partner and our jobs involve looking after hundreds of unruly teenagers every day. This is the dichotomy of still feeling like a child while having quite an adult job.

There is a Bridget Jones scene for any occasion.

December birthdays have a lot of disadvantages. It is impossible to plan anything because for the first few months everyone has work Christmas parties and other festive events coming out of their ears, then before you know it everyone’s back home for the holidays. Not to mention the joint Christmas and birthday presents.

Except for an introvert like myself, these are not so much disadvantages, but rather highly convenient excuses not to have to host anything…

My ideal birthday consists of a lie in before spending a couple of hours reading my book, journalling, and a nice long winter walk. This is just what I need after an extremely hectic term both in and out of work. My social battery, as always at this time of year is well and truly drained.

Having a late December birthday also means I get to spend it at home with my family. As I sit on the sofa writing this, my dad upon returning from the Gym looks at the app on his phone and proudly announces, “I have created enough energy to power 20 light bulbs for an hour.” Then a few minutes later, “My age has gone down to 60, which is still lower than my actual age.” I am then asked to unload the dishwasher, to which I reluctantly agree. If anything brings out the dichotomy of feeling like a child vs being a proper adult, it’s sleeping in your childhood bedroom and feeling yourself slowly regress to your teenage self who will do anything to avoid unloading the dishwasher.

Looking back at age 24, I feel like it has been a pretty great year. I’ve finally settled into my new job after a rocky start, made some lovely friends at work, gone on some great trips abroad, AND following a very dry patch lasting from about January to July, had a few exciting flings.

There have been some lows, a few cries at work, although I’m proud to say that the number of times I have cried over boys this year has been 0 (I am toughening up in my old age). Teaching prepares you for a lot in life, and I always say, if you can get over being called a bitch to your face by a 13 year old, you can handle anything.

It’s also been the year that I started writing more consistently, and to share my writing more publicly. I’ve been journalling for years, which I enjoyed (and still enjoy) because I could just write whatever I wanted, utterly self-consciously knowing that it didn’t have to be any good because no one was going to read it. However I’m so glad I took the plunge to start sharing my writing online. Through writing on Substack I’ve had so many lovely interactions, and it’s been really interesting to hear perspectives on issues that I’m interested in from people of all walks of life.

As for dating, I am signed off for the remainder of 2024. Time to relax and reflect on everything that’s happened. I find being at home, away from the business of London life is really nice for giving me the distance required for a bit of objective reflection.

I’ve seen quite a few articles recently talking about being single for the holidays. If I’m honest, being single in the holidays has been such a default for me, that it never really crossed my mind (the one time I wasn’t I was locked in my room isolating from my family with covid so that a bit shit anyway). I am lucky that my sister is similarly chronically single so it’s the norm in our family. And for all my mother knows, my sister and I are both nuns. If there is any mention of boys round the dinner table, I will refuse to answer any questions without a lawyer present. Until I get past my second glass of prosecco.

So… happy holidays, and whether you’re 25 or 75, I hope that like me, you can enjoy for a couple of weeks well and truly being “just a girl.” <3