# Too Young To Be A Mum! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 13, 2003, 12:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/too-young-to-be-a-mum/174927 "2003-05-13T12:16:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Stuffy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f17d59/32.png) [@Stuffy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stuffy)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2003, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/too-young-to-be-a-mum/174927/41 "2003-05-14T18:32:13Z")
Well since I’m a guy I never had the belly thing. But I used to keep my hair in a short natural. Once a lady from some Scandanavian (I think, her language sounded dutch) county asked if she could feel my hair. She seemed surprised that it was soft. ---
**Author:** ![Ceejaytee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ceejaytee/32/2956_2.png) [@Ceejaytee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ceejaytee)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2003, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/too-young-to-be-a-mum/174927/42 "2003-05-14T18:42:08Z")
**Stuffy** : when I was doing a semester abroad in Germany, one of my black classmates, who was living with his German girlfriend, said that their neighbor always wanted to touch his hair for “luck.” He thought it was funny and he always let her. ---
**Author:** ![Peg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b38774/32.png) [@Peg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peg)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2003, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/too-young-to-be-a-mum/174927/43 "2003-05-14T21:05:13Z")
“You’re too young to have a baby!” “Really? Apparently God doesn’t think so.” ---
**Author:** ![Lizard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@Lizard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lizard)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2003, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/too-young-to-be-a-mum/174927/44 "2003-05-14T21:14:13Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Ceejaytee \* > \*\ ***Stuffy** : when I was doing a semester abroad in Germany, one of my black classmates, who was living with his German girlfriend, said that their neighbor always wanted to touch his hair for “luck.” He thought it was funny and he always let her. \*\* Right. “Luck.” Methinks the classmate missed an opportunity. ---
**Author:** ![Coldfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@Coldfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coldfire)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2003, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/too-young-to-be-a-mum/174927/45 "2003-05-14T22:04:26Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Stuffy \* > \*\*Well since I’m a guy I never had the belly thing. But I used to keep my hair in a short natural. Once a lady from some Scandanavian (I think, her language sounded dutch) county asked if she could feel my hair. She seemed surprised that it was soft. \*\* That’s a weird story on many levels, including the fact that Dutch is spoken in the Netherlands and Belgium, and neither are in Scandinavia. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Leifsmama](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a698b9/32.png) [@Leifsmama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leifsmama)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2003, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/too-young-to-be-a-mum/174927/46 "2003-05-14T22:34:09Z")
I was on a bus in Paris when an old guy patted my hip pack that I’d put on under my jacket and asked when I was due. He was shocked when I picked up my jacket and showed him what he’d been patting. ---
**Author:** ![leechbabe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7cd45c/32.png) [@leechbabe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leechbabe)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2003, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/too-young-to-be-a-mum/174927/47 "2003-05-14T23:05:44Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Tamex \* > \*\*I wonder, too, if part of this stems from expectations that we have of motherhood and how mothers are supposed to act. If you are old enough to be a mother, then you are too old for long hair, jeans, ponytails, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, sneakers, whatever. :rolleyes: > > After I had my daughter, I avoided even going near a hair salon for a long, long time, because I heard horror stories from other women about how stylists would pressure and insist that new mothers wanted short hair because it was “easier to take care of.” My hair was pretty long, and I liked it, and had no trouble taking care of it. It eventually grew to waist length before I decided to donate it to Locks of Love last year. So, yeah, if you don’t look and act like someone’s picture of the typical mother or the ideal mother, especially when you are pregnant or have a newborn, you are somehow suspect in their eyes. \*\* Think you have hit the nail on the head here **Tamex** , people make judgement calls based on appearance. My mum keeps offering to pay for me to have my hair cut in a more ‘sensible’ style. Seems to me long hair which you just brush and whack into a pony tail is pretty sensible - no need to blow dry or spend time fussing with mousse / sprays etc. Well I’m not changing my clothes just for some crazy lady at the bus stop. ---
**Author:** ![Benanuel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f14d63/32.png) [@Benanuel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Benanuel)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2003, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/too-young-to-be-a-mum/174927/48 "2003-05-14T23:46:59Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by whiterabbit \* > \*\*I’m 27, not pregnant, but people are constantly convinced I’m younger. Up until a couple of years ago, people assumed I meant “high school” when I said I was in school. I was carded at an R-rated movie when I was 21!!! ARRRRRRGH! > > Everybody tells me in a few years I’ll appreciate this. I sure hope so. It’ll be nice when people at least think I’m 21! \*\* Heh. I can beat this. My brother house-sat for us when we went on vacation last fall. As a thank you, I picked up a copy of GTA: Vice City for him. The putz behind the counter at Toys ‘r’ Us asked to see my ID when I put the game on the counter. I was also 27 (now 28), and I think the game recommends 17 and up for age. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![juji\_mojo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7ea924/32.png) [@juji\_mojo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/juji_mojo)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2003, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/too-young-to-be-a-mum/174927/49 "2003-05-15T00:03:12Z")
The last time I was carded I was living in a province where the drinking age was 18. It was the night before my 30th birthday, my friends were taking me out. I asked the bouncer if I could kiss him. He looked startled but I showed him my ID and I said “Im THIRTY tomorrow!” He let me give him a kiss on the cheek, and he gave me one back. But that was the last time I was asked to show ID. I think there is a lesson in there somewhere. Anyway, its okay if people think Im over 18 or 19 now, since Im almost 34. ---
**Author:** ![Stuffy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f17d59/32.png) [@Stuffy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stuffy)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2003, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/too-young-to-be-a-mum/174927/50 "2003-05-15T02:26:09Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Coldfire \* > \*\*That’s a weird story on many levels, including the fact that Dutch is spoken in the Netherlands and Belgium, and neither are in Scandinavia. 🙂 \*\* Really? So what the hell do they speak in Scandanavia? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Sapphire\_Wolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f14d63/32.png) [@Sapphire\_Wolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sapphire_Wolf)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2003, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/too-young-to-be-a-mum/174927/51 "2003-05-15T05:04:55Z")
Trust me, **leechbabe** - you should be grateful. I’ve had the opposite. When I was celebrating my eleventh birthday, the neighbours congratulated me on turning twenty two. When my baby brother was born (I was thirteen), everyone thought he was my son. When I was fifteen, I went to the mall with my best friend (who was also fifteen). Jenni had the misfortune of being short, but at one store, a clerk referenced me as Jenni’s mother. ---
**Author:** ![Essured](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/278dde/32.png) [@Essured](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Essured)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2003, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/too-young-to-be-a-mum/174927/52 "2003-05-15T06:07:58Z")
Geez, **Leechie** what an arse. Sorry you had to put up with someone so crabby and nosy when you were just minding your own business. ☹ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/too-young-to-be-a-mum/174927.md?page=2)