i'm one of those almost past the mommy blogging -- my kids aren't babies anymore, but they are still young.
i'm 41 in a couple of weeks -- and this post really hit ho me.
Eventually they (or someone who wants a piece of your discretionary income) will listen. They would be fools not to listen.
Jane-
I felt like I stumbled into the dialog today over at Blogher but it's the question I've been asking myself for months now--where are the women bloggers in midlife like me. Oh I've run across a few, but none who promoted a sense of sisterhood like you do. Thanks for what you've said here, thanks for being an inspiration to newbies like me and thanks for the great posting on this issue. I can't say it better so I'm just going to link to your post on my blog. I'm looking forward to further dialog on this.
Thanks for getting this going - it is a very very rich area to explore! I'm at the end of the baby boomers - born in 1962 - but definitely feel much of what you're describing could be shared and explored. So let's do it! 
It's so interesting how things happen when they're supposed to. This is the post I intended to write after BlogHer'07, but I was put off. I guess it took a year to really germinate.
Hi, friends, I have been blogging for baby boomers for 2 years now. I have a blog called The Boomer Chronicles. I am 49. I find that a lot of sites have all kinds of categories for blogs except one for 'midlife', 'aging', or similar terms. Glad to discover all of you!
One more thing: I have a pretty extensive list of midlife women on my blogroll.
I' 67, have been writing a blog about aging for nearly five years and I once blogged regularly at Blogher about elders until it became too time-consuming with the other stuff in my life.
I think it's a good idea for people to write about those mid-years - not young anymore and not yet old, but resent this quote from above:
"My interests have nothing to do with issues of getting old and infirm and living on a fixed income."
Elders' interests are no more confined to getting old than young people's. Few are "infirm" and money interests us to about the the same degree it interests you.
You'll catch up with us in age one day and perhaps then will understand how demeaning that statement is.
If I were 40 already, I could maybe count myself among the "of a certain age" folks. What if I can't wait to get there? Then maybe I can be part of it? Actually, I probably need to stop being so immature to qualify. Let me work on that...
Jane:
I just want to respond to your assumptions about, at least, *my* demographic and interests. I am firmly ensconced in the age demographic you are talking about. I'm 44, childless by choice, and can safely say that it's not what I personally am interested in that drives the bulk of BlogHer's activities and content...it's really what the community raises its voice(s) about.
Which this conversation is a perfect example of.
As Maria Niles often says: The MommyBloggers became such a powerful voice because they made it so. Other topics have followed their lead and done the same. Looks like mid-life blogging has found some champions and is going to do the same. Which is cool.
I kind of agree with Deb Roby in that I don't often think about my perspective on various subjects as being driven by my particular age right now. Perhaps not having kids means I don't feel milestones the same as people who do have kids? I don't know. My mom definitely remarks every time one of her kids hits a milestone...from graduating high school to turning 40. It highlights to her her own aging and changing life. I certainly notice this about my nieces and nephews or even friends, but I'm sure it doesn't feel the same.
I have to mull on that one some more...
Great post! I'm definitely seeing that just because we are middle-aged doesn't mean we are in the same place. I'm 43 and a single non-mom now. But just because I've reached a certain age, that doesn't mean that neither or both of those things aren't in my future. So even in this age group, we are moving between different roles and it may not be in the order or at the time that people assume.
I think the great thing about midlife, middle-age or whatever you want to call it is that we're making it up as we go along. It's not like my parents' generation where when you reached that "certain age" you were definitely middle-age--you dressed it, looked it and lived it.
Now there's no bright line between age groups. That's why 50 is the new 30 and so on. The other side of any age is truly just a number nowadays.
madge: I think that 'beauty is in the eye of the beholder.' If this post "hit home," then you are one of us.
jennifer h: thanks for the vote of confidence
karen batchelor: It's amazing to me what the response has been. I've felt like a voice in the wilderness for a long time. I'll be visiting you.
jill: Perhaps the year one is born is less important than what "place" you're at right now
rhea: will definitely check you out. had a boomer chronicles on my google reader, but it disappeared after a while
ronni bennett: I'm sorry you found that one sentence demeaning, but I appreciate your support in writing about the mid-years.
nina: if immaturity precluded one's participation in this demographic, then I would never be allowed in! In some ways, I think our immaturity is what defines as a different kind of middle-aged.
elisa camahort: thanks for your thoughtful comments...you see, despite weird things happening, they did make it onto my blog. I'm still mulling too, and I'll respond more fully on BlogHer.
anali: so true that we're moving between different roles and defying people's expectations of us. I think that has perhaps made it difficult to see us as a specific cohort.
karen: no, there isn't a bright line--great realization!
Thanks, Jane, for taking the lead here, and for the shout out. Will be checking in regularly.
I know exactly which post at BlogHer you're talking about, because I found it by Googling "middle aged women blogs." I could have written that post.
I've been blogging for a couple of months and have had occasion to envy the mommy blogging network, which has led me to searching for other bloggers closer to my own age and circumstances. I'm 45 with 3 kids, ages 24, 21 and 13 and recently married for the second time.
My blog is mostly ramblings so far, but count me in. Please, count me in!!
Thanks for including me. I don't know what a mid-life blogger or mommyblogger or a fill-in-the-blank blogger is. Aren't we all just out here talking about what's important to us?
Just "bloggers!"
You wrote: "jill: Perhaps the year one is born is less important than what "place" you're at right now"
While I think the "place" is relevant, the age does matter in that our bodies start doing things at set times that we can't control, and those things tend to start in most women in...ta da lol - Mid-life. Or what, if we're lucky enough to have long lives, is mid-life.
What these comments tell us is that midlife is a sense of time AND place - age and experience, and there are many subgroups within midlife, as with most things!
Jill--
Your comment may be the exclamation point to this discussion!
I am also so excited to be part of this site. I started my blog because I have a son with autism and all the special needs parenting blogs I found were focused on younger moms and younger children. My friends and I are way past the "just diagnosed" stage for our children, and are already thinking about how we can help our kids build rich, fullfilling lives both now AND when we are no longer around.
I am a blog rookie and have been looking for sites for midlife women and mothers. Thanks so much for making this site happen!
Carol
pamela jean: and i'll be checking you!
punditmom: ummm, I'm not sure what to say, because I'm not sure what you're saying
jill: you're right--and well said
carol: your rookiedom will soon be over...welcome
Thanks for setting up the midlifer blog roll.
So glad I found you. Just started my blog and was feeling like the only forty-something female blogger in cyberspace! Add me to your list!
Ok - talking is one of the things I do best! Does it matter that I am a stressed out bitch this week due to lawyers breathing down my neck? I will keep my bitchiness away from the mid-life bloggers site, I promise.
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