What it’s like to be a grown adult with the face of a pre-teen

If you’re a girl with a face that’s fit for someone half your age, you have a baby face and the world never lets you forget it.

We get the same message over and over. For the last time, we understand we’re lucky to look young because when we’re older we’ll look younger than everyone else our age. But at times, we still have the right to complain.

For example, flirting with your hot waiter just feels downright awkward when he hands you a kids menu and calls you sweetie cause you look 5. One of the biggest struggles is getting on the radar. Like, at least give me the chance to reject you.

Tianna Blount Perkinson, 21, Plainsboro, NJ

“Looking young is honestly kind of good and bad. I look younger so I get attention from guys who are in high school. I’m like what do I have to do? It’s like you can’t win man.”

But some of us stay optimistic about it.

Aishy Sri, 21, East Brunswick, NJ

“Well, if I miss their radar then that just shows that they’re not interested to begin with! While looking looking young may turn some heads away, it doesn’t lessen the chance of the right person looking your way you know? If it’s meant to be, then the person should love you whole heartedly for you – tall, short, young, older, etc. it shouldn’t matter. I feel like we’re meant to miss the radar of certain people because it’s a means of falling into the right person’s eyes”

We wear makeup, mature clothes, maybe heels and sometimes — just sometimes, it does the trick.

But nobody has the patience to put in all that effort every day. Hence, the strange and unpleasant situations we constantly find ourselves in.

Pravallika is a babyface who also deals with what some refer to as being vertically challenged.

Pravallika Soma, 20, Monroe, NJ

“Sucks when I go to Sephora and they refuse to help me cause they think I’m 12 but I just want them to take my money. It also makes me question life when people tell me I look 12 on the party bus and ask why I’m not at home sleeping cause I have to go to middle school tomorrow. Also, it’s annoying how the world is made for tall people. Like maxi skirts are basically a dress on me. Can never wear over the knee boots cause like my thighs are 2 inches tall. The fucking bus is a struggle when you’re 5 feet.”

And of course, every babyface knows the nicknames they’ve been handed for life: baby, sweetie, honey. The worst is when the cashier thanks you for bagging and then tells your mom “she’s so sweet”. It’s like you’ve gone back to kindergarten.

Jackie Oh, 22, Bergen, NJ

“I think it makes people take you less seriously. For instance, when I go to a fancy restaurant, they treat me like I’m less of a customer. They call me like sweetie. I’m no sweetie — I’m an adult. I make money just like you. Please stop treating me like I still get allowance from my parents and like I got dropped off here.”

Many young faces have come to find it makes for some interesting situations in the workplace too. Claudia, who works on an HR team says she notices a different attitude even from her interviewees.

Claudia Wai, 20, Plainsboro, NJ

“Two times when I was greeting a candidate I was like do you have any questions and they were like ‘you look young’. To be honest I feel like people don’t take me as seriously as others. Looking young for me in a workplace is somewhat challenging when I want some respect. I feel like I have to work extra hard to prove I’m actually competent.”

The worst part, without a doubt, however, is finding out how many creepy old men exist.

After these experiences, it’s hard not to wonder, what if I actually was the age they thought? Then the cringe sets in.

The list of disadvantages goes on and on, but once you get to a certain age you sort of come to terms with it.

It’s a gift that comes with struggles, but it’s a gift.

My mother, the oldest babyface of the family, can only see the bright side now.

My mother – Barbara Thorpe, Lawrenceville, NJ

Barbara at the age of 39. She was carded two years earlier

“I appreciate looking young because I like being received as a younger person. I know there will come a time when I need help walking maybe, talking maybe and maybe even eating, but I don’t want others to think I need that help now. I’d like to keep my independence for as long as I can.”

Like my mom, I turned out to be a babyface.

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For years I’ve suffered like many others to the jokes of my friends who said I looked 12.

Now, being 21, I decided to see what age random strangers see me as. Here were a few responses.

Radha, 22, West Windsor

Guess: 17

Shou, 17, West Windsor

Guess: 16

Liz and Erin, 18, Montgomery 

Guess: 16

Looking young has its perks and downfalls, but think about it – its something we can’t do anything about. All we can do is appreciate what we have now and optimistically look towards the future, as my parents have banged into my head. Besides getting pulled over on gambling floors and questioned at bars is actually fun when you have ID to show.

Flaunt it, babyfaces.