At 43, an age when many women might be contemplating university choices for their teenagers, Lac du Bonnet, Man. resident Karen Kost is coordinating day care for her one- and three-year-old.

"It has been absolutely wonderful and I wouldn't trade them for anything, but we laugh at how we have absolutely no time together," she says.

"It's been a greater shock to our system at this age."

She's far from alone.

Nearly one in 10 Canadian children age four and under now have mothers in their 40s, the latest census numbers reveal.

If the trend continues, there will soon be more young children in Canada raised by mothers with the wisdom of experience than by those with the verve of youth.

The 2006 census show 9.4% of children age four and under have 40-something mothers, up from 7.8% five years earlier.

At the same time, the number of young mothers is falling: 9.9% of young children had mothers who were under 25 on the most recent census, down from 11.7% in 2001.

The increase in older mothers is happening among married women, single mothers and those in common-law relationships, like Kost.

She and her partner have been together for more than 20 years but never had the time or desire to make it official.

Now, she says she'll marry him "when our kids can dance at the wedding."

A teaching career devoted to caring for other people's children and a "pre-kid" list of travel destinations kept her from becoming a mother sooner, Kost says.

The delayed arrival of Ava and Jack have wreaked havoc on the social life of a couple accustomed to an adults-only routine, she says, but a few extra years of maturity mean that doesn't bother them so much.

"My late father, through years and years of pressure, said, 'Don't you see my kids are the best things in my life?

"You need to have kids so you can experience how wonderful it is,'" Kost says.

"We had a great relationship, so he kind of wore me down, but he didn't live to see them."…

But from the vantage point of an established career, now she envies the young mothers who stay home while she's juggling work and family.

As for noticing other 40-something mothers with young children, she says, "I think we're often surprised when we find one another, because we're trying awfully hard to pretend we're not tired and old and worn-out."