Reason number one why I love teaching kids...they say what they think, no holds barred.
I have a Saturday afternoon knitting class filled with seven to ten year olds. This group of girls is a real treat to work with. They keep me laughing the entire time we're together and last Saturday was no exception.
One of my adult crochet students happened to be taking a lesson from me at the same time the girls were getting their knit on. As such the little people were listening intently to our adult chatter regarding getting older. In keeping with the subject matter, I mentioned that I would be turning 40 this May.
At that point, one of the girls said incredulously, "You're going to be 40???"
The rest of the girls chimed in, mirroring her disbelief.
To which I replied, "Yes, I am."
Then a barrage of statements from the peanut gallery, "You don't LOOK 40."
"You don't ACT 40."
"I don't believe you're going to be 40."
In response I asked, "Well how old do you think I am?"
The progenitor of this tangential conversation answered immediately, "16."
Her classmates in unison, "Yeah, 16!"
I immediately erupted into laughter telling them, "I love you all more than you'll ever know."
When I was little, my Mom always told me that she was 16. I suppose that sounds REALLLLLY old to a 10-year-old!
ReplyDeleteHa ha! Ain't that the neatest thing? I always get told that I look/seem much younger than I really am (I'll be 49 on April 2nd). I think it comes down to how we see ourselves. I always say, "Age is a state on mind, and I'm still 25!" Ha ha! Seriously though, I see myself as much younger, and therefore act younger. Although I wonder just how my kids actually see me... much different than I do, I'm sure! Ha ha!
ReplyDeleteLet's hear it for being young at heart!
ReplyDeleteI LOVED being 16! I think that's the nicest compliment ever.
ReplyDeleteMeanwhile, this makes me think kids might not ALL be bad ;)
What a hoot! Sounds like you had a great time.
ReplyDeleteDon't you remember when you thought 40 was ancient? Heck, when I was 18, my mom was 36 and I thought she was old! I had Elena at 35, so......honestly it's how you feel inside-most days I don't feel 44 :)
ReplyDeleteWhat a fantastic story!
ReplyDeleteWhen I turned four-oh last year, I told my friend Maggie who is, um, 7 that I was actually 10. (Yes, I sometimes lie to small children: guilty as charged.)
She believed me for about twenty minutes (which tickled me no end) and then looked at me very solemnly and said, "If you're only ten, then how come you DRIVE?"
Busted.
She did NOT believe I was actually 40 (who could possibly be that old?), but (and here's my point) she finally believed I was 16. If you're 16, then you can drive a car, and that seemed to be a perfectly legit grown-up age to a 7 year-old.
16 -- it's the new 40.
or should i say...40 is the new 16?
ReplyDelete*giggle*
Yeah... I remember this ad for face cream that specifically mentioned it was intended for women 30 or older... and wondering why they even bothered, seeing how 30 was ancient and practically dead, so why bother with wrinkle treatments?
ReplyDeleteI think I was 7...
You are lucky - the class of 5 year olds I work with put me at 92 last time I had a birthday.....I'm not yet even 50...
ReplyDeleteThat is cute. What at treat
ReplyDeleteHaving turned 40 last Friday I find that hysterical. All the people at the bar are like 24 and think I look around 28. Wheeeeee!
ReplyDeleteI'm turning 40 this year too, and this tickles me to no end! As I'm in grad school, I'm around undergrads all day and they typically think I'm 27. Which is about how old I feel. The fun is when I get to tell them I've been married for 18 years. Hee hee!
ReplyDeleteI love when kids do that, mine come up with the darndest things as well.
ReplyDeleteKids are so much fun :) Happy almost-16th birthday! *lol*
ReplyDeleteAwhh, how sweet is that. Thanks for sharing that with us!
ReplyDeleteHave just found your blog and absolutely love it. My sister has taught me to crochet recently and I am still very much a beginner but I would love to make animals and toys x
ReplyDeleteha! that's fantastic. a friend of mine's son once "guessed" that i was 16. who was i to tell him otherwise.
ReplyDeleteforever 16!
ReplyDeleteYou were lucky. I teach art in a primary school and one of the kids said to me "Miss you look beautiful... even if you do have hair growing everywhere."
ReplyDeleteI had not had my lip waxed for some time and I have a couple of rouge hairs that grow from 'beauty spots' on my jaw line. Needless to say I was waxed and plucked neatly the next day!!!!