THAT question

In my 20's and 30's THAT question always bothered me and I did everything I could to avoid it. My "no" answer frequently created an uncomfortable silence between the person asking and myself. Neither one of us knew what to say or do next. Now, in my, ahem -well, not in my 20's, 30's, or even my 40's (heavy sigh), THAT question has taken a new shape. This is how it happened today ---- I was sitting cross-legged on the livingroom floor of the family I was visiting for my job. My icky shoes and snowy coat were on the floor behind me. The 12-month-old was trying to hold the spoon and the cube at the same time, but it wasn't as much fun as dropping one for the other. While I was playing with him with the secret intent of evaluating his fine motor skills his mom asked, "And how many grandchildren do you have?" My reply of , "None right now," put an end to her questioning, but only served to raise my shock. Are you kidding me? My grandmas never sat on the floor cross-legged. They never sat on the floor at all! Mind you, I am here in Utah where the average age of the first-time grandmother is around 43, but still, it was frankly shocking to hear that my not-so-flat stomach, my getting-more-wrinkly neck, and my hair color didn't convince her that I'm really just 32. Like I said, THAT question used to really hurt when I was younger, but now it just shocks me. Later in the day Rod and I were checking in over the phone when he asked, "How's your day going?" "Oh, fine. Did anyone ask you today how many grandchildren you have?" "WHAT?" That's exactly what I thought "WHAT?"