Getting Married Young?

[tvguy]

So today at work while talking to a coworker it came up in conversation on how I have been married for 11+ years. At which point she remarked OMG you must of got married young. I replied that my wife and I were 24 when we got married and she confirmed that we were definitely young at that age.

Just wondering if people think this is young to get married? My thought is young would be getting married between 18-20 and the average to me 20-30.

Now don't get me wrong you get married when you are ready and there is no wrong or right at any age as long it is a legal age.

DW's mom thought DW was an old maid because we were 24 when we got married. My family thought we were a little young. But MIL got married (the first time) at 19, FIl was 23. My dad was 40, and my mom 27 when they got married. Just what you grew up with I guess.

 

[si-am]

That is what YOU/I] want and I find that not fair to your kids! What an awful pressure to put on them. What if you aren't grandma till 60? Or older than that? You can still be an involved grandma.

I am just shaking my head.....

And what if you aren't a grandma at all? Not everyone wants kids or can even have them. Sometimes life doesn't go as planned.

To answer the OP, 24 seems young to me because it seems like a lot of people these days are waiting a bit later to get married. Not inappropriately young, mind you, just young-sounding. I got married at 30, myself.

 

[aprilgail2]

I would consider getting married before you are in your late twenties to be 'young'. That's not to say the marriage is doomed to failure. I was 22 when I got married and we just celebrated our 28th anniversary. Still, I hope that my girls will wait until they are older to marry.

I agree- I hope my daughter waits until her late 20's before settling down!

In Canada, where I live, the average age of men when they first marry is 31 and for women - 29. In the US, it's 29 and 27 respectively.

IMO, any age under 26 is young.

That sounds perfect to me!
Heck some moms on the DIS are still taking their 16 year old sons into the womens room to use the bathroom and others are getting married at 17 LOL.

 

[KateKat23]

I got married at 22 and my husband was 23. We are going on 13 years of marriage. At the time I didn't feel that young but man now looking back at the pictures we look like little kids. Also we were much skinnier and I had ruby red lipstick on. Now I never wore lipstick before that and have never worn it after that day!!

 

[North of Mouse]

So today at work while talking to a coworker it came up in conversation on how I have been married for 11+ years. At which point she remarked OMG you must of got married young. I replied that my wife and I were 24 when we got married and she confirmed that we were definitely young at that age.

Just wondering if people think this is young to get married? My thought is young would be getting married between 18-20 and the average to me 20-30.

Now don't get me wrong you get married when you are ready and there is no wrong or right at any age as long it is a legal age.

Couples seem to get married later than they used to. My brother was 18 and my SIL was 15, they just celebrated their 45th wedding anniversary. My dh & I were 21 & 20, and we also had our 45th this past year.

We neither have regrets, had our children, and thoroughly enjoyed the energy and health we had to raise them.

I really believe a lot of couples today are not as mature as young adults used to be. They (a lot of them, not all) don't have the *sticking power* to go through *better, and for worse*.

Marriage is *work* a lot of times and some people don't like work!

We are very happy, travel, and so thankful for our times together at our younger ages on up. Another advantage to marring younger is being able to (or rather having a greater chance) to enjoy our grandchildren more and watching them grow up and have children.

 

[tvguy]

I really believe a lot of couples today are not as mature as young adults used to be. They (a lot of them, not all) don't have the *sticking power* to go through *better, and for worse*.

Marriage is *work* a lot of times and some people don't like work!

.

Boy, you nailed that. Seriously, I think some people treat spouses like a piece of property like a car, every 7 years they get the itch to trade it in on a new model.
Actually, come to think of it, there may be a link between cars and spouses. I've only trade in cars when the old one dies.

 

[luckyfin]

DH and I married when we were 24. I didn't think it was young at the time but looking back now I would consider it young. Our friends didn't start getting married until several years later. Either way, it was still the right decision for us. We lived with our parents while we saved for a house, bought it shortly before our wedding and our first night living there was our the day we were married. We never considered living together so it just worked for us. I think maybe if we had moved in together first that we would have gotten married later.

 

[JnTa2]

I was 19 and DH was 21. We were young, started a family young, and now we've been married for 20 years and have one child that's getting ready to graduate and another that's in college. We both own our own businesses now and are still young enough to enjoy an almost "empty nest".

 

[stargazer2892]

Dh and I got married at 23, bought a house at 24, and had our son at 25. I constantly get told I got married to young and everyone is always surprise that I'm married even though I wear my rings all the time. I don't think we got married young, we met when we where 13 so there was no rush.

 

[kkmcan]

Dh and I got married when we were 23. I didn't think it was too young at the time but now adays with more people getting married in their late 20's and 30's, I do think we were young.

We got married, started our careers and did nothing but work and try to get by for years. I had our dd a few days after turning 26 and ds when I was 28. I was still in my 20's with 2 young kids.

I hear some of my younger friends talk about all the fun stuff they did in their 20's- taking off on last minute trips, going out dancing and drinking, concerts, extensive travel etc. We didn't do anything other than get married, work and have kids. I don't regret any of that! But I do wish we stopped to smell the roses a bit more- have some fun.

I am so happy that I am still young and my kids are teens now. We won't be senior citizens when they leave the house and thats when we can do our last minute trips and partying!

 

[mjkacmom]

Maybe concerned is the wrong word. My mom got married at 20 and had me at 24. I got married at 20 and had DD at 24. I think I would be disappointed if I got to be 50 and had no grandchildren yet. My mom was 49 when I had DD and 50 when I had DS. We have had the best time these past 10 years camping with her, and going on vacations. I'm currently 35 and my kids are 9 and almost 11. They will be out of the house by the time I am 45. I would LOVE to spend my 50's being a grandma and camping and taking vacations with both my kids and grandchildren. I have a brother who is 10 years younger than me. He is 25, recently married and no plans on kids for a couple of years. By the time he does have children my mom will be in her early 60's. She is starting to slow down. Those children will know a completely different grandma than my kids have known. I want to be able to be a really fun, involved grandma, not an old lady sitting in a la-z-boy

My mom married at 22, had me at 23. My grandmother lived in town, and was really not involved in our lives. I got married at 26, had dd when I was 27 (and then had 4 more). My mom and dad go to almost every single game my kids have (about 8 each weekend), take them overnight (and have taken them for up to a week), my mom drives one of my carpools! She's pushing 70, and hasn't slowed down a bit (eats healthy and exercises). She takes my girls to dance competitions hours away, and took dd11 to one in Europe last year.

I think there is more involved than just age. I told me kids to PLEASE not think about getting married until at least their mid-20's, to focus on college, career, and just being independent (what my mom told me and my sister, which we did). DH and I started dating 23 years ago, and have been married 16 years (and have known each other for 34 years!). I'll never regret those years of being totally responsible for me, just me.

 

[C&Apriputin]

DH and I were both 20 when we got married... And celebrated our 30th anniversary in 2012 on the Wonder in Alaska....