Always the Last to Bed

After watching a commercial today, I had a revelation…my life is defined by Jennifer Garner. By her looks, her hairstyle. Bangs or no bangs? Belt or no belt? Pants or skirt??? As a Gen X 50-ish Working Mom, yep, I am her and she is me. We work out. We get bangs. We grow them out. We like to cook and we have kids. We wear white converse and button down collared shirts with jeans. 100%.

When she was young and at her coolest (note: I never underestimate her. Her coolest could be still coming – she knows taekwondo!), I related to her as she was dating Ben Affleck, then marrying him and having kids. Two of my kids are the same age as hers. She named her first Violet. We all loved the name. She was one of the first celebrities our age to have kids. We followed along with every detail about her baby shower, nursery, pregnancy fashion. I shopped at the same baby store on Ventura.

As she was pregnant and the Hollywood tabloids were talking all about her pregnancy, I was pregnant with my first. When Ben cheated on her and drank too much, we hated him and damned him to hell with our eyes piercing the tabloid pages. Damn you, Good Will Hunting! What happened to you?!!

Then she filmed some awesome movies, and she always looks amazing. But when she began doing credit card commercials, I really started to clue in. She’s in the kitchen cooking and has the same LOB hairstyle as me! Hey she’s got a boomer Dad in a quarter zip, just like me! And don’t forget the one where she takes over the parent-teacher conference and gives a lecture about credit cards. She’s brilliant, commanding and wears jeans, a white tee and a dark colored duster. Just like me! And now years later, she’s in a sensible a-line skirt, cool red glasses and a cute bobbed haircut and so professional. Is this what 50 yr olds look like? I think to myself. Should I get cooler glasses? Are my leather pants too much and a-line skirts are more my age? Maybe I should tone it down a bit?

Then I slap myself into reality. She’s not choosing her own wardrobe. Why am I even thinking about this. If she had it her way she would probably wear jeans, t shirt and a button down with converse.

What’s next…readers on her head, compression socks with Hokas? Where are the Doc Martens, concert t shirts and curtain bangs? I can’t wait to see what the mid 50s and then late 50s look like! Saving for retirement is so important and even more important as we get older. I get it. But I like watching the commercial stereotypes better. It’s fascinating how marketers see us and how we see ourselves. And more, what a successful career Jennifer has had in film and commercials- must be at least 10 years of these credit card commercials. As relatable and convincing as she is, I have yet to get one!