My Daughter is Hip to the Musics of Today and Other Things That Make Me Feel Old

I don't get hung up on age. Wait, scratch that. I don't get hung up on MY age, though I spend probably too much time thinking about how old other people are. I don't know why I do this. Whether I'm comparing my kids to other kids on the playground, or considering how old my new coworkers are so I don't make cultural references they aren't likely to get, it's something that runs through my mind frequently.

But generally, I don't feel markedly different than I recall feeling 10 years ago. Joints might creak a bit more, and my left elbow occasionally feels strained, but that has more to do with lugging two kids around for nearly four years than anything else.

That said, there are a few things that DO make me feel old. In no particular order:

* I was in Target with LG yesterday, and as we passed the electronics section, she stopped to look at the music videos playing on the monitor. I've long since learned to tune these things out, but she can't pass a screen without stopping to take it in. After all, you never know when a TV might spontaneously start playing Frozen. We weren't done shopping, and I managed to coax her away from the screens. She started singing, which is nothing new, and we moved on. Later, as we loaded up the car, I asked her what music she wanted to listen to on our drive home. We have Spotify, and I maintain several playlists full of kids' music as well as other things I want her to hear. This was the conversation that transpired.

LG: Play the Close Your Eyes song.
Me: I don't know what that is. Is that on one of Caspar Babypants songs? Or Laurie Berkner?
LG: No, no. It's a band that sings "close your eyes, hey-o, hey-o."
Me: No idea. Where did you hear that?
LG: In the store! I was singing it! There was a guy in a video who had a beard and he looked like you.
Me: I have no idea what you're talking about, but let's see if we can find it. Do you know any words?
LG (very insistently): I just told you! "Close your eyes, hey-o, hey-o!!!"
Me: Okay, okay! I'll Google it!

Turns out, she was surprisingly close on the lyrics, and the song is "Pompeii" by Bastille, and I can only assume she saw a commercial in the electronics section for the Target-exclusive version of their album. There is one guy in the band with a beard, and he looks nothing like me, and is at least 7 years younger. I vaguely recall fast-forwarding past their performance on a recent episode of Saturday Night Live.

So that's where we are. I am the guy who skips the music on SNL, and my three year old has to tell me about a song that hit #5 in the U.S (currently #25 on the Hot 100).

But if she starts singing Iggy Azalea, I'm going to flip out. See? So old.

* My youngest brother is five and a half years younger than me. When he graduated from high school, I didn't feel old. Didn't feel any different when he graduated from college, got a job, bought a house or got married.

But last week, he and his wife had a son. And nothing makes you feel older than your baby brother calling to talk about diaper changing strategies. Except for the fact that you actually have advice to give on the subject. I was in my 20s (too young to feel old) the first time I became an uncle. But this time? If I had any hair, I expect I'd be seeing some gray.

My head may take up more of the frame, but this little guy is the main attraction.

* We went camping over the weekend, and there was not one second of the entire night spent sleeping on a wafer-thin bed roll that I didn't feel like a 1000-year-old man.

So. Much. Pain.

How did I do this six times a year from age 8 to 18? More to the point, how did my dad do it when he came with us on trips? And how has bed roll technology not gotten any better in 17 years?

The fact that I hopped merrily out of the tent in the morning had more to do
with the relative comfort of standing than my desire to be awake. 

Also, the campground where we stayed had an arcade in the back of the main lodge. The most recent game in the place was Konami's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II, which came out in 1989, and we owned for the Super NES.

Yeah, NEWEST game in the building was from 25 years ago, and it was AMAZING.