This story originally appeared at Goodfullness by Anastasia.
As we get older, we start to watch our age creep past certain markers, like 30 or 35, and so on. We might start to feel a bit nostalgic and wonder what we can do to feel young again. Some of us try to wiggle ourselves into the latest fashion trends, keep up with strict skin regimens and anti-wrinkle creams, or date partners half our age. Whatever the route we choose, we all have our coping methods with getting older. Interior design expert and HGTV star Joanna Gaines has another more unexpected method for feeling younger: have a baby.
It might sound more than counterintuitive, but Gaines, 40, recently welcomed her fifth child and says she feels more alive and herself than ever. She didn’t feel this way with her first four, but she says that having this one later on in life, made her feel much younger.
“It’s brought this whole new thing for me where I’m a lot more laid-back,” she said. “People joke that I’m the ‘Fun Jo’ now. I realize there has to be spontaneity, and schedules kind of go out the door. It’s like, ‘Hey, if I don’t get to it, it’s fine.’ I’ve just relaxed so much more, and it’s been fun for me.”
Her other kids, Drake, 13, Duke, 9, Ella, 12, and Emmie, 8, are significantly older than baby Crew, which may account for why Gaines feels like he’s her first-born all over again, and yet, with more experience than when it was actually her first time.
“I find myself researching stuff that I should know, and I don’t know it,” she said. “Like how do you get your baby to sleep through the night? [Or] if he’s in his room crying, I’ll go and get him, where with my other ones I was a little tougher.”
We do wonder, if Gaines feels her best with a newborn at age 40, does that mean there’s a possibility for more kids? She says that they’re not necessarily planning on having more but they’re also not ruling it out completely.
“I thought I was done, and then we had Crew. But Chip’s always joking that he wants him to have a little sister. No plans for another baby, but then again, we’ve never been planners anyways,” she admitted.
What do you think about Joanna’s idea of having a baby at forty as a way of feeling younger? Do you agree with her? Or have you had any kids of your own at 40?