DH is 17 years older than his little brother. When we started dating, BiL was 2 years old. DH and his brother look A LOT alike so people just assumed when we took him out to stores and restaurants that he was ours. It was an honest mistake.

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Currently, the book I'm reading is total spinach. I like it, but I can't imagine giving it to a kid. Sammy and Juliana in Hollywood doesn't suck, but it's not filling me with joy either.

Is Sammy and Juliana in Hollywood the book you're reading now, or is there another book that's spinach, Kat? I looked at the Powell's link for S&J. I might give it to a kid I thought would get into the angry vibe (at least the vibe I'm getting from the description).

My Mom has been mistaken for my girlfriend or sister many a time.

My grandmother was mistaken for the wife of her oldest son. However, she was only 17 years older than he, and took much better care of herself than he did, so I think he should have been flattered, rather than insulted. He should have married that well one of the three times.

My older cousin adopted a baby boy and a few years later, adopted a baby girl. Her daughter was a dead ringer for me as a baby, and even years later. The first time Scott met her was at our wedding shower, and he said, "Hey, I thought you were an only child?"

I used to babysit for them, and when I took the kids out, I *always* got the sad look. I was about 15/16. One summer, I went on vacation with them to Weirs Beach. The sad look started getting on my nerves, so I decided to go with it, and pretend I was the mommy.

My friend B was assumed to be the mother of a mutual friend's daughter, apparently only because they were both blond. When asked "who does she look alike?" regarding the toddler, B calmly answered "my friend's husband" (and it was indeed the truth, too).

Hee.

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I got that same sad look when I was babysitting in the summers during college. This was in the town where I grew up, babysitting kids who'd been born while I was in high school, and yet, people who'd known me while I was in high school would still look at 19-year-old me and 2-year-old kid and assume that he was my kid.

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Why do you think it was his fault? Because I freely admit that I miss a lot of news, gossip or otherwise, so I could just be in the dark.

Oh, I think it's more Garner's fault than his, but they're highly unlikely to kill Syndey anytime while Alias has future episodes to film . Also, isn't being sucked into the Who's Dating Ben Affleck Now circus and making crappy spinoffs of his crappy movies punishment enough?

When I occasionally go out to dinner with one of several younger cousins I get the skeevetastic assumptions from passers by. Not that there'd be anything theoretically wrong with me seeing someone who's post- master's degree aged, but when you factor in that I clearly remember playing peekaboo with them and putting on stuffed animal plays when they were toddlers, it's a bit creepy.

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My sister got the sad look a lot when we were younger, as people assumed that she was our parent instead of Mother being our parent. (She's 14 years older than me, and 16 years older than our brother.)

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OK, I'm realizing that I live in my own oblivious, little world, because I never remember getting the sad look. Just people talking about the cute kids. Then again, I tend to gently tune out Other People when I'm out and about unless I have to interact with them, so...

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Some friends of mine in Atlanta had a baby that looked just like me, and not much at all like them, to the point that people wouldn't believe me when I told them that Lisa was his mother, not me.

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3) One time, out to dinner with a family friend (parents' age), I could totally tell that people at nearby tables were trying to figure out what the deal was. It made me laugh.

Once I had lunch with my Uncle near his office. The gossip was considerable. Apparently "the 20 yr. old blonde is my neice " just didn't ring true.

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I've lost all hearing in my left ear. I'm freaking the fuck out, and left a message for the doctor.

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Scary! Ear~ma to you, Allyson.

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