Advice For 'Grown-Ups' In Their 40s: 'Just Do What You Want More Often'

When you watch The Graduate, do you identify with the parents? Do you grow impatient scrolling to your birth year in online drop-down menus? Is a night of continuous, unmedicated sleep one of life's greatest pleasures? If so, Pamela Druckerman says, you might be in your 40s.

Druckerman thought that being in her 40s would be a "delicious secret." But, it turns out, others noticed, too. Salespeople steered her toward anti-aging creams. Her daughter observed: "Mommy, you're not old, but you're definitely not young anymore."

So she decided to write about this "confusing place in the lifespan." Druckerman's new book is called There Are No Grown-Ups: A Mid-Life Coming-of-Age Story.

Druckerman has lived observed cultural differences in parenting in the U.S. and France. In her new book, she explores the French approach to aging. (Writing a book about being in your 40s while you are your 40s is "quite a 'meta' way to age," Druckerman says.)