People Say the Darndest Things

It never ceases to amaze me how often people make assumptions and blurt out something they may not have said had they given it a bit more thought. Nothing will make this more apparent in our human race than a pregnant woman.

For those that have known me throughout my life, everyone has always assumed I am older than I am. My mom constantly said, "When you were 2 people would always ask me if you were 4!" And it didn't stop there. As a teenager I was mistaken for a young adult on countless occasions and have the business cards from 30+ year old men to prove it! Okay, so not anymore but I did!

For whatever reason, I have seemed to suddenly start anti-aging over the last two years. Ever since I got married I have been continuously mistaken for being much younger than I am. Seriously, like 4 to 5 years younger. And to compound this difficulty, I work at a high school. The staff in all parts of the school (particularly the lunch lines) constantly mistake me for a student at the high school and I am very particular about wearing my staff badge EVERY SINGLE DAY so that I can prove my "authority."

This problem was bad enough last year, but now that I am pregnant I have learned the need to tune out the things people say or try to laugh about them. Particularly the students, but not limited to some of the staff. The most recent comical experience I have come across happened today. One of the teachers came to me and told me that she saw me talking on my phone in the hall a few days ago and two students walked past me. She overheard one of them say to the other, "Holy cow! That sophomore is knocked up!" (Knocked Up: contemporary slang term meaning "pregnant.") So apparently, I am now being mistaken for a 15 year old.

I must say that this is not a problem I anticipated having to deal with, having always been mistaken for being older than I am. My mother is no stranger to this problem. When I was a newborn baby she was with me and my dad in the grocery store one day and a woman walked up to her and said, "Either you are older than you look, or that man should be shot." Yes, she really did.

How funny people are sometimes! I will admit that I am better about laughing it off now than I was when I first got pregnant and was just starting to show. Hopefully my ability to laugh will continue to progress with my pregnancy.

I am very grateful for the knowledge that I have made the right decision at the right time. Being pregnant is very hard and challenging at times but I have had the constant support of a loving family and especially Father in Heaven and a FANTASTIC husband who never ceases to stand by my side and take care of me. I am very excited to have Abby be a part of my life and to get to have the rewarding pleasure of having the most fulfilling calling of being a mother. Whether I look 25 or 15. :-)