Anonymous wrote:I don't know, but I think people are generally just being polite or making small talk. It's not possible that everyone just looks so much better than they're age, is it? And most people are NEVER going ot tell you the opposite which they may really be thinking.

I recently found out a fellow mom was only 34 and I was stunned. I thought she was late 30s easily. Did I say that? Of course not.

I think people in their 30s and 40s today look much younger than out mothers did at our age - thank you sunscreen and improved cosmetics! We think our peers look younger than they are because they look like us and not like we think of a woman in her 40s looks. To people in their 20s, we look our age. I work with a lot of people in their early 20s. If I say I've been in my job for 13 years, people older than me are surprised because they assume I'm younger. People who are 22-26 are never surprised because to them I look definitely over 30, but they aren't sure how much. I'm 36 in 3 weeks.

I'm kind of embarrassed for all of you, except for the slob who admits people might just be being polite. I am 34 with 2 kids and I worry that I look older than that. Depending on how I am dressed people do make polite comments. Like when I was pregnant with no. 2 saying I don't look old enough to already have a kid...sure, it's nice to near but I take it with a grain of salt. There is huge variation in appearances at this age, so looking good is looking good- not looking like you're still in your 20a.

I'm 47 with three kids under 12. I'd like to believe I look like 35 but I'm sure that I look 45 to a 25 year old.

The question is why care? DH is 51 and he looks it. We're happy. So what?

Anonymous wrote:No. I used to look younger than I was before having kids. Now all those sleepless nights and temper tantrums have left me looking 20 years older.

Me too!

When I came on to my project it really pissed people off my co-workers because they thought I was straight out of college and into a senior level position. I am 38 with 2 kids. After I told everyone my info they were shocked.

A little botox, some lipo here & there, TT, facial care and dieting really helps.

Anonymous wrote:I am 43 with a 2 yo. People think I am very late 20's-early 30's. What about you?

Late 20s Doubtful

Anonymous wrote:I am late 30s with a 3 year old. Before I had him, people always thought I looked younger than my age. After I had him, not as much. haha. He aged me about 10 years.

Ugh me too. I looked positively radiant as a mid-30s newlywed just a few short (long?) years ago. I love my little family so the loss of my youthful good looks is a little easier to bear.

I'm 33. Two kids under age 6. I'm Asian and most other Asians guess my age correctly. Others think I am late 20 to mid 30s. I see all the mid 20s employees at work and I know for sure I don't look as young as them. Maybe it's harder to distinguish age from mid 30s to mid 40s.

I am 38 and people think I younger, some don't believe have two kids. When I first started working here I was talking to my boss about her daughter and grad school. He said "my daughter is 27, about your age, and thinking about going back to school". There are several woman in my office like this. There is one woman who I swore was in her 20s and when she told me she was 40 my mouth dropped.

Anonymous wrote:I don't know, but I think people are generally just being polite or making small talk. It's not possible that everyone just looks so much better than they're age, is it? And most people are NEVER going ot tell you the opposite which they may really be thinking.

I recently found out a fellow mom was only 34 and I was stunned. I thought she was late 30s easily. Did I say that? Of course not.

their age

I don't know, but I think people are generally just being polite or making small talk. It's not possible that everyone just looks so much better than they're age, is it? And most people are NEVER going ot tell you the opposite which they may really be thinking.

I recently found out a fellow mom was only 34 and I was stunned. I thought she was late 30s easily. Did I say that? Of course not.

I'm 44 with an infant and a toddler. I'd say I look more like late thirties than mid-forties, but I dress on the younger side and cover my gray. I do think #2 has aged me a bit with all the lack of sleep.

There are a few moms in my DD's Daisy troop whom I have (to myself) thought they were the grandmothers -- not so much b/c of how they personally physically look but b/c of their choice of hairstyles and clothing. Now, if you know how unstylish and unaware I am of fashion trends, you would know I am no fashion plate either. But these moms had like flattened triangular bobs (like the '90s) and sort of 90'slooking clothes I would have worn in college (and I graduated in '95) so that is sort of what made me go that way. But later I realized they were the moms.

In my experience, sun damage and weight have a lot more to do with how you're aging versus how old your kids are. Late 30s and early 40s are when huge variations start to show among peers. At my 25th HS reunion people were all over the place from fresh-faced to seriously wrinkled, and we are all the exact same age.

(I am 44 and probably look about that, maybe a little on the younger side due to pretty good skin.)

I'm 42 and have a 5-year-old. People typically guess my age as 35, but occasionally they guess younger.

10:41 - they may be trying to figure out if you're the mom or the au pair/nanny if you look really young. I've had that thought a couple of times when I saw someone who looked like a high-schooler with a baby. (consider yourself lucky that you look so young! you won't always look so young.)