When I was 18, I got the children’s menu at Niffer’s in Auburn. When the waiter realized that the hostess didn’t bring me crayons, he asked if I wanted any. As kindly as possible, I said “Umm…I’d rather just have an adult menu, thanks.”
Also when I was 18, I went to a Braves game with Brent and his family. At this particular game, they had a promotion at the entrance that kids 12 and under got a souvenir. Brent’s sister and I got the souvenir, but Ryan, who was well under 12 at the time, did not.
When I was 22, Brent and I were flying home from Fort Myers for our first house hunting trip. We were on the emergency exit row and the stewardess squated down and said in a very sweet voice, “Sweetie, I need you to move to another row because only people 15 years and older can sit on this row.” Again, as kindly as possible, told her that I was 22, had a college degree, married, and flying to Alabama to buy a house…I could handle the emergency exit row. What I didn’t tell her was that in the event of an emergency, I would be a useless and frantic girl regardless of my age.
The day Brent and I got married, I had been 22 for 3 days. I had Lily when I was 24.
I’m young, I know it. I feel like I’m aging slowly and I guess that’s a good thing. I want 30 to slowly creep up on me and so far, it is. But the more people I meet the more I realize that I’m very young to be married and already have a child. And my mother and MIL, who aren’t even 50 yet, are very young to have a grandchild.
The other night Brent had a dinner thing to go to with Farmer’s Insurance and I went with him. We sat at a table with 3 other couples that were our parents age….they had grown children and some had grandchildren. It was very awkward because, well, those couples had a lot more to say to each other than to us. The part of the conversation that was most awkward was the part that I heard one of them say, in reference to their own child, “25 year olds, uh, they are SO irresponsible.” And that opened a can of worms for the 3 couples to discuss their 20 something year old children that don’t know what they want in life, haven’t graduated from college, haven’t found a job, still live at home, don’t take responsibility, yadda yadda yadda. Every stereotype that could be mentioned about a 20 something year old was said. And I just sat there, rolled my food around on my plate, and pretended to not hear what they were talking about. It was all I could do to not stand up and say, “I am 25. I have a college degree. I am a highly qualified teacher. I teach TWO grades. I am married. I have a daughter. I own a house. I don’t live anywhere near my parents and I don’t depend on them financially. I pay my bills on time. I spend my money wisely and don’t spend money I don’t have. NOT ALL 25 YEAR OLDS ARE IRRESPONSIBLE BUMS!!!.”
For Brent’s sake, I kept my mouth shut. I guess for once I was viewed as older than my actual age and that is something I have never experienced before. I don’t like it…nor do I like it when people think I’m a teenage mom when I buy Gerber Graduate meals at the grocery store. There’s just no happy medium is there?
A Merry Heart 
I have this same problem… Married at 20 (my bday was two weeks before our wedding), first baby at 22. When i would meet new people, they would say to me, “you're married??? But arent you, like, twelve?” Even with my second baby, when I was 25, I was mistaken by a new teen at our youth group as a pregnant teenager. Haha! Sometimes it feels lonely, especially when none of my friends from high school are married or have kids, but at least I know YOU know how i feel!