Friday, July 27, 2007

How to Deflate My Ego In One Sentence...

"Are you his grandmother?"




The thing is, the kid who asked was so young, and so well meaning, and he was so mortified when I laughed and told him that, no, although he is Grand, he is not my Grandson, I thought he might actually implode. I couldn't get angry at him for being so tactless, because I have stories about things I said to people when I was that age that still keep me awake at night. Perhaps now that I've been asked this question (twice), I can let myself get over my long-ago mistakes. Apparently I need that missed sleep.

I still feel kinda like I want to cry, though.

5 comments:

I, Rodius said...

Aw, I know the feeling, but don't cry. When I've gone to lunch at the school cafeteria with the niece (who's now Greek), I've twice now been asked by different classmates of hers if I was her grandfather. When you're so young, anyone over the age of 15 looks older than dirt. It does kind of take the wind right out of your sails, though, don't it?

suttonhoo said...

here -- do this real age calculator »

you'll feel sooooooooooo much better.

turns out I'm only 27.9 years old. :)

Donna said...

We have several friends who are parents in their mid-40s to grade school kids and they get that more than they want. We're not old. We're chronologically mature.

Anonymous said...

getting asked.

My brain is still fried from too much tequila this weekend.

anniemcq said...

Tracey, that question is exactly why I didn't get angry at him. I WAS the one who asked a woman at the deli I worked at when she was due. I was about 21 at the time, and it was my first day at this job. I saw her every single day for the entire four years I worked there, and I never could get her to talk to me after that. I felt so awful. Apparently she had some kind of growth, because she was thin everywhere else, but her stomach looked about 6 months pregnant. I've never, ever asked the question again.