Hey Mom - Meredith and I Are Not Too Old

My mom, Jane, had her high school friends, Janet and Cathy, come stay with her in Florida for a week and she showed them this blog, including some of the video segments I've done. "Did they like it?" I asked her over the phone.

"Oh yes," Mom burbled, "They said you should be a talk show host!" Then she paused. "But I told them you were too old."

I was flabbergasted. "Mom, I'm not too old. How can you say that?"

"Well..." she demurred. "How old is that Meredith person?"

"Meredith Vieira is older than me, and so is Ellen, and so is Oprah for God's sake! Talk show hosts are not necessarily young." I was suddenly very upset at the thought of my professional talk show hosting days being over before they'd even begun.

"Okay, dear, if you say so." But from the tone of her voice, I could tell she wasn't convinced.

I'm used to my kids telling me I'm too old for things, but there's a special sting when your mother says it. I mean, she's a whole generation ahead of me, so who is she to call me old, huh?

To be a good talk show host you need life experience, intelligence, and a sense of humor - traits that often aren't fully developed until you hit 40 or so. And there's really no age limit to hosting a show if the topic is interesting enough. Sex educator Sue Johanson has a very successful show on Oxygen TV called "Talk Sex" and she is 78.

I've decided that my mom's comments reflect more on how she's feeling about her own age, not mine. I mean - if your daughter is too old for certain activities, then you must be really ancient. But cheer up Mom. I'm young enough to host my own talk show and so are you!