Internet fads are fun—especially when they remind us how much parenting has sucked out our life force and taken our will to live, right? I mean, no. Kids are great. Best job everrrrrr.
So the #10yearchallenge or #howhardhasaginghityou or #holyfuckyoulooklikeshit challenge (I made that last one up, but it’s basically the same idea) has people all over the internet sharing pics from 10 years ago when they were young and vibrant and full of life and getting sleep and going to the gym and could go out without eye concealer. Then, they compare those youthful images with today’s profile pic.
Most of us have aged. Most of us have pooped out some kids, earned a few extra wrinkles and gray hairs, and have stuff sagging that used to be buoyant.
But thankfully, lots of people said fuck that 10-year challenge! I have made memories and wouldn’t give up one single wrinkle or dark circle under my eye because they mean I have LIVED! JK—no normal person really says that. But some people did have a fun time creating some hysterical memes in response to this ridiculous #10yearchallenge. Here are some of our faves.
For example, apparently this exhausted dad of three morphed into Thor over the last decade. I guess that’s what 10 years of wiping butts and cleaning up puke does to a man? Typical.
And this one, because a few years of parenting really does feel like you’ve aged a lifetime…
Anyone else feel their inner Mama June come out, especially toward the end of winter break? After eating 892 Christmas cookies and refereeing blood battles between my kids for two weeks, I sure did.
When you still need to be censored, but in a different way.
You can barely tell the difference here. Thanks, kids!
This one is perhaps the saddest of all. *Eats three hamberders to drown my tears
Remember when you thought just being a regular dumpster was bad? Oh, to be that naive again.
So apparently 10 years of gravity and breastfeeding and not wearing a bra unless I’m going to a black tie event has an effect. Damnit.
Well, my butt never looked like the first one anyway, so whatever. *Eats more hamberders
Remember in our 20s when we had metabolism? Those were the days.
Before kids: Cute smile, has time to put scarf in hair. After kids: Hired as an extra on The Walking Dead.
Gone are the the days of bright colors, only to be replaced with various shades of damp gray and sadness.
And finally, this gem really tells it like it is. But honestly, who doesn’t want to channel their inner Dwight Schrute?
So yeah, we’ve aged. Some of us more than others. *picks up bones, puts them back into place.
But we’ve also lived a life over the past decade, so TBH the #10yearchallenge can shove it. We’ve brought new life into the world, wiped said life’s butt 892,000 times, fallen in love, fallen out of love, fallen back in love, quit jobs, started new jobs, moved to new places, and bid farewell to old friends.
We might be saggier and wrinklier and more tired than we ever thought a living person could be, but we should also look back at the past decade and see how much we’ve kicked ass. How much we’ve grown, how much we’ve learned, and how many days we thought, “I am not going to survive this day,” and yet we did.
So cheers to the next 10. Maybe not a #10yearchallenge though in 2029? Because good Lord, if this is what we all look like now, I don’t think the world will need another one of these.