Do I Really Look That Old?

[Anonymous]

I had my first child at 25 in this area and was glared at in the bus because people thought I was a teenage mother... poor teen moms!

Now my eldest goes to school here. There is always that fleeting second when I meet another (mostly white, more mature) parent, when they size me up, trying to decide if I am the nanny or not. Then they see that my children look a lot like me, and condescend to talk to me... poor nannies!

I break the ice more easily with the many foreign nationals in my child's school, since the mothers tend to be nearer my age.

[Anonymous]

Living right here in metro Dc .I became a grandma
at 46 Many though I was his mom.I have been told i look 10 years younger.BUT not right now there is some white.

[Anonymous]

Sixty is the New 45

[Anonymous]

I remember when someone once mistook my dad for my grandfather. I was 10 and he was 42. He has always been thin and didn't go gray until he was 60, so it wasn't that.

Some people are just really bad at guessing ages. If you really want to know how old you look, go to a "guess your age booth" at a carnival. Worst case scenario, you win some $!

[Anonymous]

"I think it's all in how you carry yourself and how you feel from the inside out. "

Didn't work for you in this case. Eh, OP?

[Anonymous]

At my age (52) I can either be thin and have a gaunt hollow cheeked face or I can put on 10 lbs and have a face that is more attractively filled out and a butt that isn't. I would like to have the face and the body but I can't. I feel better when I'm thin so the face will have to deal.

[Anonymous]

This isn't just a thing in our generation (although it's more common in this area): my mom's sister was asked if her dad was her grandfather when being dropped off at school in the 70s. She was the youngest, and he was 42 when she was born, totally white-haired in his early 50s.

I have also had the opposite reaction with seeing people on Facebook now, when it turns out that people I know who are in their mid- to late-40s have grandchildren.

[Anonymous]

My husband and I have both been asked if we're my daughter's grandparents. We just have to take it in stride. We are certainly old enough to be her grandparents.
I also like to think I don't look that old. I don't notice it in myself since aging seems to happen so gradually. One way to deal with it is with humor. I'm sure people can tell our age by the wrinkles in our face.