How did these 13 things suddenly become cool?

My mother would sit down at 5:30 in the afternoon to eat her dinner and work on a crossword.

To my teen self, who loved insanely uncomfortable high heels and weather-inappropriate clothing, she was a small, all-encompassing microcosm of TRAGIC, LAME and BORING.

But oh, how times have changed. I can’t tell when it happened, but everything I once thought the epitome of daggy I suddenly find very, very cool.

A quiet night in solving logical maths problems? Yes please. Good bed linen over outrageous shoes and designer handbags. Oh, I do think so.

Am I officially old? Or just officially wise? These are the things I love that make me think I must be one or the other.

1. AM radio

There was a time when incessant talking on the radio was just annoying. PLAY SOME DAMNED MUSIC we’d scream at the car radio. But there is a point in our lives when, just like our parents, we seek out the comfortable, familiar sounds of AM and talkback.

We crave to know more than a two-minute soundbite. The top 40 now shits us and we tune into AM in droves to hear the odd classic in between great conversation.

2. Gardening

Gardening for pleasure isn't necessarily something that only comes with age, it's just that before we probably had priorities on Sundays that ranked above planting lemon trees. We'd see an elderly neighbour pruning the roses and think, 'well that's cute, but she has nothing else to do'.

Now we have other things we 'could' be doing but we choose to garden because it's both therapeutic and fun.

3. A full bush

In our younger years, we wouldn't have been caught dead sporting a full pubic bush. Now? Well now, who cares?

For most of us there comes a point where we let it go wild and morph into the jungle nature intended it to be. Pubic hair was put on our bodies for a reason and not only is okay to allow it grow freely, it is, in some circles (mine), considered to be cool.

4. Good bed linen

When the words '1000 count Egyptian cotton sheets' are enough to send you into spontaneous orgasm, you know you've matured. Gone are the days when you were content with the $20 generic department store brand while dropping a week's wage on a new pair of boots.

No, our priorities have changed and the things that get our juices flowing are now completely different.

5. Eating at 5.30pm

Remember how grandma sat down to have dinner at 5.30pm and you thought it was such an 'old person' thing to do? Well consider me old, because I like NOTHING better than tucking into some spag bol before 6pm and getting dinner over and done with.

It's supposedly better for your health anyway (Note: You should not top up with two bowls of ice cream at 9pm).

6. Pottering around the house

Hanging out at home, a past-time once cloaked in mortification (especially on a Friday night) is now one of my favourite things. Having nothing to do - or even better, having plans cancelled on me - is THE BEST.

The 22-year-old me would have never thought this possible.

7. Life insurance.

When we're young, we think we're immortal. Then - wham! - reality hits us in the face and we realise that we will in fact, die one day.

Cheery huh?

We also realise we don't want to leave a financial mess for our loved ones, and two words suddenly become very important: Life Insurance.

It's no longer crazy talk, it's a topic of conversation at dinner parties.

8. Needlepoint

Ain't nobody got time for that, right?

Wrong.

Out of nowhere you'll get a hankering to take up this fine needle craft. Not only that, you'll give up the chance for a night out drinking mid-priced wines to stay in on a Friday night and complete your latest project.

9. Knitting

Just like needlepoint, no doubt thought Grandma or Mum were lame for their enthusiasm in this department.

NOW, you take your latest half-finished scarf on public transport with you and knit in front of strangers. That's how cool you find it.

10. Vinyl

We seem to have done a full 180 when it comes to vinyl records. We got rid of our records to make way for tapes, then tapes for CDs and then eventually, all of them for digital libraries.

But a lot of us now have "vinyl regret". And suddenly there is an increased demand for record players and albums. Especially those albums we so foolishly gave away.

11. Games of logic.

Hello Sudoku, welcome crossword.

Once, we'd spot our parents on the back deck on a Sunday, eating brunch, interacting only when they got stuck on a clue. And we thought we'd "never be like them".

Now we know it's actually beautiful form of intimacy. And brain games aren't just fun, they keep our brains healthy and active.

12. Hiking

Remember as a kid there was nothing worse than being made to trek through the bush for hours on end with your parents? With nothing but bush to see, leeches in your socks, sore legs, freezing fingers and a million other things you'd rather be doing?

Not so anymore. Now, hiking is ACE. There's still nothing much to see and the leeches still scope out our ankles for a meal, but ahhhh - the serenity. What a way to just simply "be".

13. Comfort over fashion.

Being comfortable once was fairly low on our agenda. We would rather have bunions and pneumonia than be uncool. There comes a point in our lives however, when we realise we're being ridiculous. And that it's cooler to be comfortable than not.

Sure, I'm not as young as I once was and I'm sure my 16-year-old disapproves of a lot of things I find cool right now.

But I can smile at this, happy in the knowledge she will come to me at some point in the future and ask me to help her with a crossword and borrow my records.

What about you? Have you found that the things that once you wouldn't be caught dead doing, you now find cool? What have we missed?

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