I'm sorry, you're HOW old?

Excuse me, but when did I get old?

If some of you mature readers are thinking, "Oh goodness, Maxine! You're still young yet." Think again. Or at least tell that to me when I keep running into people that really should always be older than me.

For instance...

The doctor. When we moved to Washington in 2004, I needed to find a pediatrician. I found someone who came highly recommended...only they failed to mention that this doctor was still prepubescent. Okay, so maybe she was old enough to have completed medical school, but it was really odd taking parenting advice from someone so young. How could she know anything? She was probably still living with her parents! Crazy thing was, she was an excellent physician.

Then we moved to Arizona and I was pregnant with Noah. Time to find that ob/gyn who would bring my 3rd bundle of joy into the world. Again...she came highly recommended. And again....she's younger than me. A lot younger. Maybe it's easier to deliver babies when you were just recently one yourself?

My child's teacher. Okay, now this one I actually do expect the kindergarten teacher to be a bubbly 20-something with loads of energy to keep up with a roomful of 5 year olds. However, it's when you are broad-sided with the realization that this teacher who looks fresh out of college has been teaching for 8 years! So why is it that someone who is 29 or 30 years old looks soooo young to me, unless...dare I say it...I'm not.

Ugh.

But this weekend was the clincher. Sunday's Bismarck Tribune showcased the new president of my college alma mater. Sure, I knew we had a new president. I even figured he had plenty of credentials, was an outstanding leader and would likely accomplish great things in his new role. I didn't know he was someone who didn't even have his drivers license yet by the time I graduated high school!

Yes. It's painfully true. He's younger than me! The PRESIDENT of the proclaimed "America's Leadership University" is younger than ME.

I don't suppose the most discouraging part of that news is the fact that I'm old, but rather that I'm old enough to have actually accomplished something. What have I been doing for the past 15 years?! Did I fall asleep under a rock?

Sure, my resume isn't completely blank, and being a mother pretty much qualifies you for everything. Doctor? Oh yeah. Slapped on some hydrogen peroxide, Neosporin and a bandaid to Rachel's knee just the other day! Teacher? Are you kidding me? I'm constantly teaching...my "students" don't always seem to get it, though. University President. Well, no. But I do have the same taste in pasta as dear President Shea (light on the sauces).

Someone told me today that old is "anyone always 15 years my senior." I could get behind that statement.

However...it also means that energized first year kindergarten teacher is finding me old. Oh well. Closing her in a room with 25 noisy children who could pee their pants at any moment seems like sweet justice to me.

As for me, I think I'm going to like the blooming new president. In his words...

"The way things unfolded, the finger of God can be seen so clearly," he said "- that is, in how each piece of your life fits into a whole, prepares you for a future that you couldn't imagine at the time."

So the future could hold some amazing things for me.

Maybe I'm still collecting the pieces.



For the full story on the University of Mary president, go to: (http://www.bismarcktribune.com/articles/2009/08/30/news/local/193362.txt)