The year was 1996 and my 13 year old daughter attended her first dance at school. When I went to pick her up a friend of mine, who is the same age as me, tagged along. As we walked down the hall a teacher stopped my friend and asked if she was picking up her child. Aghast at the implication that she looked old enough to have a 13 year old, my friend declared to the teacher that she ABSOLUTELY WAS NOT PICKING UP A CHILD AND THAT SHE, IN FACT, DID NOT EVEN HAVE A CHILD!
And with her shorts in a knot my friend turned to me and bellowed “DOES SHE REALLY THINK I LOOK OLD ENOUGH TO HAVE A 13 YEAR OLD?” I was inclined to point out to her that, as I was old enough to have a 13 year old, surely she was as well. But I remained silent because, after all, it didn’t matter how old I looked, the joy was simply in being a mother.
As we continued down the hall it occurred to me that the teacher didn’t ask me if I was picking up a child so I must not look old enough to have a 13 year old.
When I found my daughter, I handed her $5 and told her to find her own way home. There was no way I was gonna be caught dead with some 13 year old and a saggy looking friend.
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