"because of some genetic accident, somehow she looks slightly younger than her age" or why I will never wear a baseball cap again in my life

this morning I woke up with hair so oily I could fry noodles in it. so I decided to wear an Old Navy baseball cap I bought for 5$ in San Francisco on our honeymoon trip. with my jeans that tend to be too long, sliding on the floor and falling flat on my white Converse Chuck Taylors, I know my natural demeanour sometimes suggests that 1) I am babysitting my kid brothers or 2) I once was a teenage mom and should be lectured about contraception.

most days it doesn't bother me. the scowling. the condescending. the questioning.

but today.

Bach maybe. definitely not Mozart. the only place playing classic music at 11am and swarming with little brats that are actually louder than mine and with people with nothing better to do. the mall. as I watch Sean and Will ride on a merry-go-round an old lady sits next to me.

"they're beautiful children"

"well, thank you"

"you're the mommy?"

"yes"

"are they twins?"

"yes, they are"

"oh, it must be so hard for you"

"well, sometimes it is, yes"

"I sure hope you have a husband to help you. do you?"

Comments

[Heather]

Ha that is funny, Good for you and your young looks. That lady is too funny!!

[Chris]

*eye rolling*
So now she's thinking you're a teenage mom whose boyfriend "did the right thing," eh?!

[Erin (Erin-erin-bo-berin)]

People have been guessing me thiry years old since I was 17. I know that I'm guilty of it, but don't like it that others judge based on appearance. I posted one of those cases not too long ago: http://wrestlergoblins.blogspot.com/2005/10/im-not-just-mom.html

Anyway, looks like you gave the old lady a run for her money!

[Marilyn]

And YOU said??... ;)

[Vanessa_AR]

That is too funny, you childbride! Sean and Will have a really hip mama, regardless of your age.

[Ninotchka]

Oh GAWD! How did you answer her?

[Heather P.]

I used to find my self very defensive when strangers would try and GUESS my age in public. I WAS a teenage mother, and now I DO look like my daughter and oldest sons sister. Oh the looks when we go out in public and of course the OMG's when they hear my children call me mom. "OMG your their mother?!?! I would guess you to be old enough to be their sister!" My daughter is now having to explain to her new friends that yes, that IS ACTUALLY her mom.LOL.. I do find enjoyment in it, since I am now 34. :) I wore a baseball cap in a store just like you, and got carded to purchase a lottery ticket. I wanted to hug that cashier! Your beautiful and look great for your age Irene!Just think, one day you will be the age of that old nosey woman, minus the nosiness of course, and the public wondering will be long gone.. Hurray for good genetics and long live our youth! ;)

[Steph]

Why do some people get so rude with old age? It is like as you get older, your sensitivity genes wear out or something! I hope you had something witty to say back. I'd have probably sat there with my mouth open!

[mama_tulip]

People never cease to amaze me.

[blackbird]

I used to be mistaken for the babysitter - with Oldest, as I was young.

But my favorite was the woman who aasked their ages...
2, 7, and 13 said I.
Same father? asked she.

[Melissa]

Don't you love the liberties strangers take?!?!?!

[Cee]

I get asked all the time if my kids all have the same father, they do. Or if my oldest daughter is adopted because she doesn't look anything like me, she is not. Oh, and if we plan on having anymore kids. Like I am going to discuss my family planning with a stranger. I know some of them mean well, and are just curious and to them I am polite. The rude nosey ones are the ones that annoy me.

Keep wearing that baseball hat, looking young is a good thing.

[christina]

GAH!! What did you say???

[Krystyn]

That is too funny. You should have been like, "No, I'm a lesbian and my partner is better with them than any man could be!" and laughed. And SNORTED. Yeah, the snort would definately make her feel as awkward as she made you feel. Unless she was like, a snorter herself. Or a lesbian snorter.

Ok. I'll stop now.

[liz elayne]

People are just fantastic...they amaze me over and over again with their ability to say the oddest things.

[Ronica]

Irène,

Same thing for me when I sport a BB cap and sweatshirt/jeans/sneakers. What is it about baseball caps? I don't get it.

But on the bright side, I did get carded to buy beer on my 32nd birthday--I guess all that Oil of Olay is working!

Frustrating, I know, but at least they don't think you are their grandmother. That would be much worse.

Didn't the generation of French Old Women learn from their mothers, "If you don't have something nice to say, don't say anything at all" or "Mind your own beeswax?"

Sigh.

[Julie Turley]

I hope you find some way to take it as an unintentional complement. I got asked if I was Stella's GRANDmother last summer at a city pool. (And I guess, technically, I could be.) yikes!

[bella]

Oh my goodness! Maybe she was just curious, you know, the way old ladies can be?

[Marcia]

Once upon a time, I was 16 and the summer nanny for my aunt, who I look exactly alike. If we were out in public I would get disapproving looks from old women (thinking I was the mother of this adorable infant) and my aunt would (self-conscious that she was a 46 year old first time mother) snatche her child from me and tell the disapproving older women that SHE was the mother of this child....

it's nice that you have the opposite problem.