The grass is always greener

As a teenager and later as a young lady I used to think I was cursed with "childish looks".  I always looked younger than I really was.  When I first started teaching I purposely sought out "grown-up" clothes in an attempt to make myself look older in order to gain respect from the parents of my students.  I even worried about my hair style making me look too young.  As the years passed and I became more and more familiar with daily moisturizers and winkle vanishing creams, I eventually stopped WORKING at making myself look older.

Now, just eight years after that first year of teaching I strive to look young and vibrant.  I had a parent conference last week.  The dad asked me how long I had been teaching and I told him eight years.  He gasped in surprise and said "Really?  I thought you were fresh out of college!"  If he had said that to me eight years ago I would have been a little upset.  When he said it to me just last week I beamed and said "Thank you!"   It's nice to know that although these lines and wrinkles are screamingly obvious to me..apparently they are not to others.

“Character contributes to beauty. It fortifies a woman as her youth fades.”

--Jacqueline Bisset