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I am an old mom.

You see a lot of us these days: our mildly hunched-over silhouettes; our just-greying hair caught in the Velcro of our diaper bags; our pre-Botoxed foreheads deeply furrowing - heralding a cry of, "No running! Mama can't keep up with you!"

You may also have seen the flipside: the immaculate, irreverent, Susan Sarandon-esque matriarchs. They have set a standard of style for themselves all their lives, which they do not give up just because they've had a baby. Their kids twinkle in the reflected glow of their older moms' grace and self-respect. I generally fall into the first category.

A recent study shows that the average age for a first-time mom in Canada is now closer to 32 than 25. This suggests that a bunch of us are having our kids at an even older age (I had my first at 36).

There's a lot of debate about whether this is a good trend or not. But debate eats up your day, and at my age I don't have a second left to waste. I'll generalize that it is a great feminist victory that many young women now have more choices in their lives - including whether to have kids at all and, if so, when.

Choice is also a lot of work, so let me help. If you're an empowered twentysomething who is imminently determining her life plan (and rolling her eyes at my use of that 1980s word empowered), let me offer you some pros and cons to being in the pre-senior, preschool set.

Since we oldsters tend to start with the half-full teacup, let's get the cons out of the way first:

1. The body Does the word "gravity" ring a bell? How about "underwire bra?" A friend said that her aged, nursing breasts are like old paper bags. They are thin and greasy from too much use. Meanwhile, young moms seem to bounce back, more or less, to how they were. They certainly do in People magazine.

Britney Spears popped out two corn-rowed, corn-fed, K-Fed kids and she is back on her stripper pole. Victoria Beckham (Posh Spice) is once again a skeleton. I think Heidi Klum said it best. She returned triumphantly to the Victoria's Secret runway two months after having her second child. And she said, "If I want to eat a banana ... I'll eat a banana."

2. Lifespan Many of us old parents fear that just when our kids will really need us, we won't be alive to help them. Especially if they, too, wait to become parents (how selfish!). We won't get to see their weddings, kids or career payoffs. We also won't have to pay for them.

3. Fate Sometimes, waiting until you're in your late thirties or early forties to conceive a baby is too late. Fertility becomes an issue. Still, Aleta St. James, the author of Life Shift, had twins at 57 with donor eggs.

When she was asked on CNN whether a 24-year-old could manage better, she said: "Maybe [she'd] run faster. But I have a great support group. And the fact of the matter is I'm keeping up. I have more energy now than I ever had."

And more publicity, too.

So, to sum up the cons: Your ta-tas are like rocks in socks; you're hosting his bar mitzvah in a walker; and your ovaries are giving you the finger.

But wait, before you cut class, get your G1 licence and drive yourself to the bar, sperm bank or prom, there are also profound pros to older motherhood:

1. Wisdom Being older can offer you patience, perspective and humility - which are great tools in rolling with life's uncertainties. You also can match the old-lady string for your glasses with your child's pacifier clip.

My sagacious friends and I have taken to chanting the words "menopause" and "puberty" at the same time - that should keep life interesting.

2. Stability I don't know about you, but when I was in my early twenties, I would not have trusted myself with a plant, much less a baby.

3. Acceptance The grace to accept (which only comes with making many mistakes) that you don't ever go back to who you were after a tremendous event (parenthood, divorce, death, illness). Instead, you realize that life, in the words of hip daddy-o David Bowie, "Ch-ch-changes" you. Turn and face the strange. I don't know if I could have appreciated that when I had the retentive memory of a fly: "Hey, what's that shiny thing? A painful life lesson - ow! Hey, look, another one - ow!"

So, recapping the pros to older motherhood: You're smarter, you're less of a health hazard to others, and you've got the decency to stop fighting so hard.

Like Britney said of her virginity, I'm glad I waited.

In her case, it was about 15 minutes; in my case it was 10 years. I needed every one.

dflacks@globeandmail.com