So I'm at Target with my daughter today and I run into a friend. Her sister is in town along with her son and the three of them were looking at toys. My friend's nephew was darling. I asked her sister "how old is he?" Her response?
"Forty two months."
Really? Really???? Geez, he's three and a half.
I understand that there may be medical or theraputic reasons to refer to a child's age in months, but for the sake of a simple conversation, was this really necessary?
At what age do you refer to your child in years and not months?? And yes, I know that there are more important things to ponder, but I thought I'd throw this one out there for you mamas! Discuss!
Have a great day!
ETA @ Bernie K: OMG, it was all I could do to not burst out laughing in her face! She was absolutely serious with her response. I'm glad someone else found the humor in this, too!
I am laughing so hard at these answers! It is a relief to know that I am not the only one who found this completely ridiculous! I needed a good laugh today. Thanks for laughing with me, ladies! Oh, and keep 'em coming. Anyone able to top 42 months?? (Yes, I did actually have to convert this to people years, too.) Y'all are too funny!
I applaud you for not laughing out loud in her face.
I don't think I would have been able to control my laughter at that one, especially if she was dead serious as you said. Gees.
LOL, that's so funny! But kind of sad too, it's probably a way for her to keep her son in the "baby" stage :(
I referred to age in months up to two years old. I think because between one and two they are growing so much, referring to a child as a one year old is pretty vague, there's a big difference between a 13 month old and a 22 month old after all.
Hahaha LOL
Thank you for that belly laugh!!
That is so funny 42 months ,OMG
I think at after 1 yr ,I say 1,1and a half, 2 ,2 and a half and so on,I use the half until around 5yrs and then just use the yr.
B. k
In general kids change so drastically day to day between newborn and 2 people tend to refer to them in months. After that it is years.
I think a couple weeks ago someone made a joke in response to a question where she referred to her, like, 18 year old in months. Cracked me up.
Beyond making me laugh there is no reason to go into the detail of months beyond two years.
Another way to look at it, if the person you are speaking to is compelled to do math to figure out the years, you should no longer be speaking in months.
I would be tempted to ask what that works out to in people years.
By 2 you should be using years, not months. In my opinion anyway.
Up until 2, then I say 2, 2.5, 3, etc...
There is a HUGE difference between a 13 month 1 year old and a 22 month 1 yr old. The difference between a 25 month old and a 30 month old isn't as evident, so I just call them both 2, or if the person REALLY seems interested or is trying to make comparisons, I'll say 2.5 for the older one.
ETA: I think the next time someone does that you should reply, "Oh, and how old is that in dog years?"
I think when my son turned 18 mnths. Then I started saying he's one and a half then a couple months latter I would say he's almost two. Now I tell people he will be three in August.
At around 2 I began the "jut turned 2" "about 2 1/2" "about to turn 3"-vaguer than months but a little more detailed then just saying 2 no matter where they fell. That way I give some indications of a young 2 vs an older 2. There is a big enough difference of just turned 2 and about to turn 3 that I feel a little description is good.
I also never wanted to do the math higher than 2 years. Too lazy and too many other things to use my brain for LOL
I have *never* been able to track my kid's ages in months past 6 mos old. And by #3, I'd stopped even trying. I was so happy when they'd all hit the one year mark and I could say things like "he's one and a half" or "he's almost 4."
Before that,
I'd say things like "he's not quite one" which is probably as funny as "42 months" now that I think of it. Assuming her kid is developmentally normal, I bet he hates that answer!
p.s. I'll be 600 months old soon!
I stopped at 2 - actually, I stopped just before that, when I was saying things like "She'll be 2 in 2 months." Now I will say either "4", "4 1/2" or "Turning 5 in August."
I wonder when that mom will decide to stop referring to her son's age in months - when he's in kindergarten and "64 months old?" Billy Crystal's character in "City Slickers" made a joke about that, talking about his mother and how she still referred to his age in months. "He is 557 months today!"
I start counting in half years starting at 2 - i.e. 2, 2.5, 3, etc. I haven't reached a point where the half years stop (currently at 6.5, but i'd guess around 8). I'd probably have such a confused look on my face if someone said 42 months, though I'd be thinking "and how old are you in months?"
I had someone once tell me her daughter was 38 months and I thought it was really weird.
I think at age 2, you start using years and not months. I will say two and a half, or maybe "she just turned two last month," etc. but i do not ever say months if it is 25 or more!
I told my daughter about this a while back.. Some mom had posted on here about her 40+ child.. We laughed and laughed.
Just now she said 263 months. So next month s her birthday! We are thinking about using this number for her next birthday invitation!
I started years at age 2 :-)
Once they turn two. Who the hell wants to take the time to calculate 42 months. Once they turn two, they don't really develop or reach specific milestones on a monthly basis. There should be a big difference between a 5 and a 9 month old, between a 14 and a 19 month old, but not between a kid who is 3 years 3 months and 3 years 6 months.
Well, as for me, I'm 583 months.....LOL
I think most stop the "months" count at about 2, then go to 2, 2-1/2, 3, 3-1/2....now I say my son is 9.
ooh mi GAWD. yeah i would have looked at her like she was stupid and had no idea what she was talking about - i suck at math- especially out of nowhere like that! lol! that is ridiculous!
i was thinking around two-three. i mean, there's a big difference between 18 months and 24 months, but after that, i mean...26 months is "right around two"...but after that my brain has much better things to do :)
From 2 years old, with both my kids, I referred to them in years.
And they did too.
Or if answering for themselves, they would say things like "2 years old..." or "2 and a half..." or 2 and three quarters..." etc.
42 months?
Good.grief.
Most people stop around 24 months/ 2 years mostly because development milestones stop being "monthly". Plus any older and it just gets silly.
I stopped using months as a measure of age when DD turned one. Because, once she turned one, she was a year old, and could be referred to as such. Since a child under one hasn't completed a year of life yet, and their age can only be measured by months, I don't get why people still use months after a year, but to each her own.
If she was 14 months, I would just say "she turned one 2 months ago", or if she was about be complete a half year, I would just say "she's 1 and a half", etc.
The whole "months" think has always annoyed me for some reason, I have no idea why. I just don't see the point in it.
I stopped at 2. So if we are going by months, my son is 228 months and my daughter is 276 months.
I don't know how you didn't start laughing. I would have said "okay but how old is he? 3 or 4?" I'm just not that good with math!!!
Hilarious. I always thought that I would stop using months when he turns 2 years. We'll see. I think that it's about development. A lot goes on in those first two years, and it's easier to mark those events in months. That is very similar to using the "half" later on. It marks a distinction between birthdays, for developmental reasons. People say year-and-a-half or two-and-a-half years, but they don't say 20-and-a-half years. Then, we start lumping years together and refer to 38-year-olds as 40-year-olds.
(I had a woman on here scold me for using months when he was about 14 months. Seriously?)
I think that people who are so blindly critical of it shouldn't ask the child's age. I mean, if it's my kid, then I get to give the answer that I want, right? Why should anybody else be bothered? Saying it in months might not be typical, but it DOES answer the question, and quite specifically. When I ask for the time, I absolutely hate for someone to round it; I want the exact numbers. I do not want to go by someone else's estimate. When I was pregnant, I didn't calculate by months. I knew the exact date of conception and charted the pregnancy in weeks. My check-ups were based in weeks. A woman at work (with children of her own) asked me how far along I was. I answered her in weeks, and she seemed to be annoyed and wanted me to do the math for her. I didn't.
I don't mind if people answer me in specifics. In most (if not all) cases, I prefer to do my own math, since I am the one who will be processing the information. I alone know why I'm asking. In the case with time, if it's 10:12 and you tell me that it's 10:15, that could make a difference to me depending on what I'm doing. I would prefer that no one make assumptions about why I need the time and just give me the information I'm asking for without their spin.
I get asked this all the time with my kiddos so when they turn 1 month of age I go by months then years after their first b-day.Who has time to think what is 55 months for example.
Usually by 18 months, definitely at 2 years. How funny!
18 months. I always say before that in months. After 18 months I almost always catch myself saying 1 1/2 years old.
But for sure at age 2.
Guess she wasn't someone you consider a good friend.
