Just because I have a baby-face doesn’t mean I’m nice

Despite all of the times your mom tells you you’re lucky because you’ll look younger when you’re older, having a baby face can have it’s downsides.

Everyone who has a babyface has been through it. The condescending tones, being ID’d all the time, and people assuming you’re nice just because you look young.

Whatever happened to not judging a book by it’s cover?

Everyone assumes you’re still in high school (or younger)

Age 13

Honestly, if I had a nickel for every time someone gasped after I answer where I go to school with ‘William & Mary’ I’d be very rich. It’s always followed with: “Oh my gosh, I thought you were still in high school!” Or when they ask me how old I am and I say “21” and they go “Oh wow, I thought you were, like, 16”. It never asks old. Except it totally does.

People talk down to you

If you look like a kid, people will talk to you like one. It’s not really their fault, they don’t know any better, but it can get pretty annoying, especially when you’re just trying to pretend you’re a real adult. Most of the time it’s harmless, like when people call you “sweetheart” or “dear”. But sometimes it’s down right annoying, like when the cashier at CVS told me to put down my phone and help my “Mommy” with the bags. As a result, I’m a pro at the subtle eye roll.

Everyone is surprised when you’re mean

Having a baby face pretty much coincides with people thinking you’re “nice”, especially when you tend be on the quiet side, like me. But when I get to know people I can be really snarky, which people are always surprised at. They’ll look at me as if I’ve grown an extra head and say something like “Oh my God, you seemed so nice.” I mean, come on, whatever happened to not judging a book by its cover?

You get ID’d all the time

Literally, all the time. And I probably will until I’m at least 30.

Age 17

You get discounts for certain things

While they’re aren’t a ton of perks to having a baby face, this is a pretty good one. For museums or theme parks rides or anything remotely touristy, there’s usual some kind of discount for those under a certain age. People will automatically assume that I’m under the age limit and go ahead and give me a discount without even asking. Although this doesn’t happen all the time, when it does it’s pretty great.  Those kinds of things are usually ridiculously expensive.

You’ll love it when you’re older

As soon as people find out that I’m actually several years old then they imagined, this is guaranteed to be their go-to line, especially if my subtle eye roll isn’t as subtle as I intended. But they’re not wrong. My mom looks at least a decade younger than her real age. If it ends up being that way for me, I certainly won’t be complaining. I just wish I didn’t have to put up with the whole world commenting on my age/looks to get to that point.

Age 19

Bottom line, don’t ever comment on how old you think someone looks. Even if you think they’re younger. It’s much safer to not think about it and just accept whatever age someone tells you they are.