During an extended stay in a hotel for work I needed to do a load of laundry in the communal laundry room. When I returned to collect my laundry, an older gentleman was loading the dryer with his clothes and had placed my clothes on the folding table. In response to my apology for not returning on time to remove them myself he related that he remembered what it was like raising young kids and needing to get their swimsuit dried for the hotel pool.

As I put my clothes in my bag, my mind was quickly trying to solve his strange riddle. I had no idea what he was talking about. My child is 21 years old and after letting my hair return to its natural salt-and-pepper color, I know I do not look like a woman who would still have young children. Then it dawned on me – he thought my underwear were little girls’ bikinis!

Needless to say, I left that laundry room with a huge, grateful, smile as I went down the stairs (because I had enough energy not to need the elevator) and because there is no way anyone would have ever mistaken my former size 3X granny panties as little girls’ bikinis.