Stretching the Generation Gap

I've been thinking about my friends who are still having babies. We're in our mid-40's. In one generation, we've successfully added a whole generation to our time between generations. :)

A generation preceding mine, my mom was the first of six children. Because my aunt was the baby in a large family, she was born when my grandmother was 40. Her mom's "advanced" age was always a big issue for her, with people always assuming she was Teresa's grandmother. How quickly things change!

When we were born, our parents were generally in their early 20's (my mom was 22, Dad 23), grandparents in their 40's and great-grandparents in their 60's. Many of us had great-great grandparents who were living when we were young.
 
Now many babies are born with parents who are in their 40's, grandparents in their 60's and hardly any great-grandparents around.

When these little ones graduate from high school, their parents will be in their 60's. Many of their grandparents will have passed away. Good thing we won't be able to retire at 65 like our parents, or we'd be retiring when the kids are going off to college. Try paying for college and retirement at the same time. Some of my friends will be! I can already envision semi-retired Gary working double shifts at the golf club bar. He'd probably have done that anyway...

All of this is neither good nor bad (other than the college+retirement scenario.. yikes) - just so different from one generation ago. My parents would never have entertained the thought of having kids on purpose in their 40s.

One of the good things about a slowing birth rate... population reduction. Maybe this generation won't have to sit on Mopac for an hour and a half during rush hour.