Married to the Empire

Friday, November 2, 2007

If you want to feel old...

...hang out with a bunch of young twenty-somethings who lament how old they're becoming!

Our church just started small groups this week, so I attended ours for the first time last night. As soon as I walked in, I noticed our youth minister and his wife, our music minister and his fiance, and two kids who used to be in our youth group. My first words to the hostess upon walking in were, "I think I'm too old for this group!" They're all in their 20s, and we're talking young 20s.

We had birthday cake for the youth minister's wife, who is turning 23. She was saying she feels old. That made me laugh. I told her I have 11 years on her. Our music minister, who is brand-new to our church, was only half listening. It was funny to watch his reaction as that sunk in. His exact words were, "What? Wait. WHAT?!"

Our youth minister had the same reaction back when he first learned Ruf's and my ages. It's actually kind of fun to see their shock. They always think we're just a little bit older than they. I'm never sure whether to be flattered or horrified that they're so surprised to learn we're in our 30s. Obviously, it's flattering in that we look younger than we are (although those gray hairs are creeping in on me faster and faster these days). I just wouldn't want to be accused of acting immature or anything.

But now, I feel old hanging with this group. When your former youth group kids show up in your adult group, you're officially old.

Thankfully, the host couple is a little older than Ruf and me, so we're not alone in our agedness. *snicker* And suddenly, we've become the people with life experience and insight.

2 comments:

Ann said...

Oh, I hear you. When I was teaching second grade, I wore my hair long which made me look even younger. I hated it when parents would say, "YOU'RE the teacher?! I thought you were a kid!" I seriously got kicked out of the office by the industrial arts teacher my first year when I was rummaging through cupboards in the office searching for supplies. It was a k-12 school, and I think he thought I was a high schooler. Not flattering when you want to be seen as a professional. Now I have short hair and don't feel like I look like a kid anymore. But people are surprised to find out I'm 35.

Anne Marie@Married to the Empire said...

Ann, I had a similar experience my first year of teaching! I taught 9th grade and was also the JV dance team director. We had a JV pep rally one day, and I headed back to the locker room to tell my girls to hurry up. This coach wouldn't let me pass! He kept asking me where I thought I was going. I had to jangle my big wad of teacher keys in front of him before he'd sort-of believe me. But he kept his eye on me the whole time I was back in that area of the gym.