When Ms. B. was really little, people who didn’t know me and saw us in public frequently assumed I was her babysitter. Then around the time she hit elementary school it all kind of quieted down for a while. But this year, as Ms. B. entered tween-hood (is that even a word? D. has problems with even the word ‘tween’), crossed the 5′ threshold, and started looking more like a young woman than a child, I’ve started to encounter the occasional assumption that we are sisters. On a plane trip to Houston last week a gate clerk was particularly persistent about it:
Clerk: “Where are you two girls . . . wait, you are sisters, right?”
Me: “Ha ha, no. This is my daughter.”
Clerk: “What? No. You two are sisters.”
Ms. B. (horrified): “No! This is my mom.”
Clerk: “You’re foolin’ me. You two are sisters.”
Me: “Okay, moving on.”
Clerk: “Hope you sisters have a nice flight!”
As we walked away, Ms. B. turned to me,
Ms. B.: “That guy was an idiot.”
Me: “I think he was just trying to be nice.”
Ms. B.: “Jeez. I mean, there’s, like, ten years between us.”
Me: “Just ten?”
I’ve been chuckling about it all week. I’m not sure what it is. The way she hissed “idiot?” The assumption that ten years is a sufficient age difference between a mother and daughter? Her absolute horror at the thought that anyone would think I was her sister?
Hahaha! I laughed pretty hard at the “ten years” line.
Yes, pretty funny! Ms B knows how to let off the one-line zingers, but you know how to tell the story
I had the exact opposite of this happen with a priest once. I have a brother that is 15 years younger than me whom I was holding at church one week. The priest assumed he was mine, and no amount of insisting could persuade him otherwise….
Of course, 5 years later, I *did* have my own…so now I’ve experienced both sides…
(ps…I think your daughter handled it exactly like I would like to!)
amy @ glass confetti
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