When did they stop saying that?

Photo taken March 2013

There was a time when people would comment, "Wow, you don't look like you have four children!"

This was generally deemed to be a compliment, but it always struck me as odd: what does a mother of four look like? Should I have more frown lines? Should I be older? Should I look more like Mama June?

But then Heidi Klum has four kids and, dayum, I wouldn't say no to having her figure! She probably has full-time nannies, so that explains her lack of wrinkles. Plus Botox and cosmetic surgery. And laughably good genes.

Now that I'm 50 (okay, technically, 51), I still get the "wow" part of the comment, but people have stopped remarking that I "don't look like a mother of four." Which, I guess, answers my questions: a mother of four looks like a middle-aged, slightly overweight, menopausal woman who has not gotten enough sleep of late.

Interestingly, the "you don't look like a mother of four" comments dried up only a few years after my last "when are you due?" query. (Actually, I only ever got that comment once, and it was when I was working in the baby department at Sears, so babies were clearly on the guy's mind. I felt sorrier for him than for myself. At the time, my youngest was under a year old.)

So I now look like a mother of four children (who are now well on their way to adulthood) and I don't look like I will be popping out any more. I'm absolutely okay with that.