Has Ellie Patterson always seemed old?

Before they rebooted For Better Or For Worse, Ellie Patterson was the same age as my mother and Elizabeth was the same age as me.

My mother was a year older than I am now when I was born (which is hella weird in and of itself! I don't feel a year away from being as much of a grownup as my parents!), and the rebooted Elizabeth seems to be about 1 or maybe 2 years old, so that means that the rebooted Ellie is very close to my age. I'm 29, and Ellie's no more than 32.

But she doesn't seem to be close to my age at all! She seems like a cranky get-off-my-lawn-type middle-aged woman. Without context (i.e. the fact that she has a one-year-old child) I'd place her as well into her 50s.

Did Ellie seem age appropriate to her contemporaries the first time around? Does she seem age-appropriate to women my age who have children? The youngest mother I know well enough is about five years older than me, and she doesn't seem anywhere near as old-ladyish as Ellie.