Millions of mums are living like teenagers, wearing ‘young people’s clothes’ and still ringing their mum and dad for help

Nearly half of all British mums admit they are living life as though they were a teenager. Indeed, according to new research by Barratts sweets, three quarters of us, regardless of how old we are, still feel like big kids. 

Turning 18 might be when we legally become an adult, and reaching 21 is often seen as significant in terms of ‘coming of age’, but the study shows that in 2011, we now don’t actually feel like grown-ups until the ripe old age of 28.

A third admit they don’t think they’ll ever really feel like a proper grown-up - even when they have kids of their own, with parents admitting to prancing around to pop music, eating alphabet spaghetti and drooling over young celebrities.  

Rita Pan syndrome seems to have taken hold of the over 40s in particular, with two thirds of parents still admitting to enjoying children’s TV shows with their kids. Additionally, 30% of them are still confident they can get away with wearing ‘young people’s’ clothes, while one in ten still ring their parents to ask them how to cook and do household chores.

A staggering 70% of over 40s think they look younger than they actually are and more than 90% can’t believe how old they are, which is probably why nearly half of those surveyed for the study by Barratt Sweets are usually in denial when another birthday comes along. 

So is our young inner instinct good for us and our families, or should we just grow up and stop embarrassing our kids with our immature ways? Judi James on the podcast below tells us more.