Age Before Beauty

I'm not sure when it happened. That fateful day when I started caring so much about trying to look younger. The thing is, I've always looked older than my actual age. It was once a great thing ... I had no problem pretending to be 16 when I was only 12, 18 when I was only 13 or 21 when I was only 17. In fact, I remember hanging out with some older kids on a ski trip when I was about 12 or 13 years old ... I had no problem pretending to be 16, until one of the kids fell and the others asked me to drive him to the hospital.

But, in my 20s, I began to realize that this "looking older" thing wasn't really that much fun anymore. I must have been about 24 years old when I met a man on an airplane who asked me what I did for a living. After explaining that I was in law school, he said "oh, is law going to be your second career?" I shudder to think how old he actually thought I was. Needless to say, I ordered a stiff drink and ignored him the rest of the flight.

As I entered my 30s and began having kids, I've had more and more encounters with people thinking I am older, much older, than I actually am. And, it is no fun at all. For example, I have been taking some classes at my gym with my husband's 17-year-old niece over the past few weeks and three, THREE, different women have come up to me and asked me if she's my daughter! Do I seriously look old enough to have a 17-year-old daughter? Oh my. This is not good. Thankfully, she's beautiful, so at least people think I have a beautiful 17-year-old daughter. But, as I've said, it's age before beauty for me these days.

So, until I find the fountain of youth and can turn back the clock to my rightful age of 35, I think I am going to start telling people that I'm 50 years old ... I mean, I look pretty damn good for 50, right?