If I had a nickel for every time I pointed this out…

Pre-industrial life expectancy was so low because of high infant mortality. If you made it to 38 you were not that much more likely to die before 70 than you are now, precluding outside circumstances like war or plague.

Aww. My 4 year old niece came out with “you look so old” a couple of months ago. Last week we were looking at my childhood photos and there was one of my mum obviously much younger than my niece remembers her. And my niece kept saying how old she looks in that photo.

A bit of questioning later, it turned out she thought old meant pretty.

Also, when I ask her what my age is, she says 5. Even though her oldest brother is 13.