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By now, you've probably seen at least a couple of babies who look like old people. But this deceiving image isn't exclusive to the tiniest ones. Bored Panda has collected a list of childhood photos where kids also appear to be at least a couple of decades in decay, and they're just as hilarious. From a 10-year-old sassy grandma to a 40-year-old receptionist attending 4th grade, you'd think these unfortunate folks would be the ones pinching your cheeks at the next family reunion. Truth is, they will actually be on the receiving end instead. Scroll down, enjoy, and upvote your faves!
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#1
My Friend's Baby Pictures Look Like Mrs. Doubtfire
Slinkman 6 years ago
'Well.. Well.. Well.. I hear you haven't been turning in your homework. Is that right?'
R.s. Potter 6 years ago
That dress puts the photo in the 80s. When we didn't see anything wrong with dressing like we belonged to a polygamous cult in Utah.
Lola Robison 6 years ago
OMG! Did they not notice? She'd have been very cute with longer hair with bows in it, cap sleeves, and demi collars with lace.
If you're worried about your embarrassing photos that might one day crawl out of your hard drive and spread over the Internet, don't be. We all are. In fact, there's a perfectly reasonable explanation for why the person staring back at you looks so very unfamiliar, even though that person is you. The answer to why you hate seeing photos of yourself is mirrors. The explanation given in a TED talk by photographer Duncan Davidson, for example, explains how "perception, mirrors, and the uncanny valley make us hate photos of ourselves."
RELATED:
#2
I Looked 70 When I Was 13
Bamboo Panda 3 years ago
What year was this taken? This looks like a woman I know, who is in her 50s. She's a very sweet and kind person.
Back in 1977, in a study titled "Reversed Facial Images and the Mere-Exposure Hypothesis," psychologists Theodore H. Mita, Marshall Dermer, and Jeffrey Knight concluded that "individuals will prefer a facial photograph that corresponds to their mirror image rather than to their true image." As the title of the study suggests, everything has to do with something called the mere-exposure effect.
#3
I Looked Like A Middle Aged Man When I Was A Child
tuzdayschild 6 years ago
I can't swear by it, but I think it's illegal to give beer to someone that young.
Sudie Faulkner 6 years ago
This is what happens when you dress your children in clothing that mimics adults. If he had been wearing a pair of shorts and a Spiderman t-shirt, he wouldn't look older than he is.
The mere-exposure effect was first proposed in the 1960s by Stanford psychologist, Robert Zajonc. According to Gizmodo, "In its simplest terms, the mere-exposure effect is a psychological phenomenon whereby a person develops a preference for a stimulus based solely on his or her repeated exposure to (and subsequent familiarity with) it. The effect has been demonstrated with an array of stimuli (words, paintings, sounds) and across cultures. It's even been observed in other species."
#4
When It’s Your First Day Of Kindergarten And Also Your First Day As Head Of The PTA
So the truth is, if photograph-you looked like mirror-image you, in a way, everyone else would think you look bizarre. The same researchers, who showed a person is more likely to prefer a facial photograph that corresponds to their mirror image rather than their true image, also demonstrated that the opposite was true when the images were shown to the person's friends. So, again, don't worry about it. Photograph-you looks great.
#5
When You Look Over 40 But You're Actually 12
The Dutches 6 years ago
My daughter was 11 when she started experimenting with makeup. So for her 12th birthday I organized a makeup party with a beautician. Great fun. Of course we made pictures. When she saw them, she was shocked to see herself as a 25 year old. After that she hasn't touched makeup till she was finished in collage, and only sparsely.
trix 6 years ago
Wouldn't work with today's teenagers. They all aspire to look 25 when they're bloody 13, and they do.
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Monika Soffronow 6 years ago
Yeah. Once girls hit puberty they do everything to look older - and once they go beyond 30, they spend the rest of their lives trying to look younger. 'T'is a drag, people, 't'is a drag.
Monika Soffronow 6 years ago
PS The male counterpart ends up looking like a baby blimp buffoon in advanced age...
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CrunChewy McSandybutt 6 years ago
Oh, Glamour Shots. Have you ever made anyone actually look good?
Loki’s Lil Butter Knife 6 years ago (edited)
@Alex, there was a very bizarre trend in the 80s called “Glamour Shots”. I have no ungodly idea how it started and whether the trend made its way around the world, but all I have to say is that I’m very thankful that it now only exists on embarrassing websites on the Internet.
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#6
Yeah, So I Heard My Best Friend Was Made Into A Meme Called The 60-Year-Old Girl
Ildiko Okido 6 years ago
You don’t want to see the glasses I wore. They hid half of my face.
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Lola Robison 6 years ago
Looks like someone stole Lettie, from NCIS Los Angeles, glasses for her pictures. Or she is a Sophia wanna be from Golden Girls.
sharron lynn parsons 6 years ago
Again,,,,, this poor child has huge glasses, what's with the parent ???
#7
My Wife Was A 40-Year-Old Receptionist In 4th Grade
#8
Give Me The Sassy Grandma Look
Aria Whitaker 6 years ago
oh Glamour Shots: turning 7 year olds into 67 year olds for 30 years!
#9
This Is Why I Never Had A Girlfriend In High School. I Looked 35 When I Was 14
Catlady6000 6 years ago
Guy 2 years behind me in high school was pre maturely bald. Just the rim of fuzz. He paid for his first car buying beer and cigarettes for everybody. Sweet little green GTO
Mark Jaress 6 years ago
But, just think, never carded. I was the other way around, carded until I was 40
Lola Robison 6 years ago
Looks like thime guy in my school who was able to buy his first car before they asked for ID's at age 14. Most popular guy in middle school. All the older kids that couldn't afford cars "took him"(got him into) parties.
#10
I Looked Like An Old Jewish Man In 9th Grade
#11
The Blunder Brothers, Circa 1994. I'm In Purple
Lola Robison 6 years ago
Sad to say they actually look like three kids that lived next door to my niece in Texas. Almost EXACTLY!
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#12
Glamour Shot Blunder (7-Years-Old)
Link 6 years ago
I went back and looked once I read this, and you are absolutely right
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Catlady6000 6 years ago
All I can say is , it was the 80s. Can't even blame it on the drugs like we did in the 70s. Different time, different reality
Load More Replies... Withnail 6 years ago
The shirt, the earrings, the hair, the chin-pose... o.O
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E FourOFour 6 years ago
I am pretty sure that my ex-wife has a Glamour Shots pic from when she was 14 wearing the exact same jacket
Lola Robison 6 years ago
No, try Queens, NY. The Nanny's mother! (And all her aunts, and the Canasta players)
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GenXandEarnedItAll 6 years ago
That's the realtor pose....you'll never look at a realtor head shot again without seeing it!
#13
6th Grade Going On 60
Daniel Hayden 6 years ago
This looks like my Great Aunt Edith who moved to the Cornish coast 12 years ago and now makes doilies for all her neighbours.
Taryn Wallace 6 years ago
Now kids notice the extreme use of what we old people called "shoulder pads" no one was safe from them (even children) they were used to make you look more broad in the shoulders but also doubled as a safety feature on almost every female "dress clothing"
Lola Robison 6 years ago
Wow! Looks like a photo of my former business partner, let's call her "Rose"! I am SURE it's her! I saw all her photo albums on her coffee table!
#14
My Friend's Yearbook Picture From 2nd Grade. Apparently She Used To Be A Lesbian Art Teacher
Luuk Eegdeman 6 years ago (edited)
I have a lesbian as art teacher she really looks like that...
#15
That Time I Went To My High School Prom And Looked Like A 45-Year-Old Woman
#16
I Was Born In 1981, But Turned 55 In 1992
Jasmine Walker 6 years ago
The thing was: in the 90s, we thought that was COOL! We had slap bracelets, Ty Babies, GigaPets, man to name a few! Getting nostalgic just thinking about it!!
Ryo Bakura 6 years ago
You picked GigaPets over Tamagotchis? What kind of 90s kid are you? Traitor!
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mcsa student 6 years ago
Actually resembles my lil sis' art teacher. and she (teacher) is in her late 20s
#17
First Day Of High School, I Was Apparently Going For The 70-Year-Old Man Look
Ryo Bakura 6 years ago
"Let me tell you why slacks are the greatest invention since the wireless."
comboplush 6 years ago
I see you're proudly displaying your grandchildren's achievements on those pictures in the back.
#18
At Age 10 I Looked Like I Was Ready To Give Up And Change My Name To Linda
#19
I Too Was Born In 1981. I Present To You, The Butch Soccer Mom (I'm A Guy)
Robb Olofsson 2 years ago (edited)
You know its bad when you have to say ''Im A Guy'' for ppl 2 know xD but i was there too so.
#20
A Friend Of Mine Gave Me Permission To Post This Gem. Circa Early 90s
Slinkman 6 years ago
1. Take a pan 2. Put it on your head 3. Ask your mum to cut your hair around die edges of it 4. BAM!! INSTANT FASHION
Restless 6 years ago
Did these kids actually need glasses or were they props? Grannies glasses?
morgan jeffries 6 years ago
Nice dress, fancy brollie, pearls and ... er... pudding bowl haircut?
#21
After The Seventh Child My Mom Decided It’s Just Easier To Dress Me In Her Own Clothes
Laura White 6 years ago
I remember when my mom used to make my hair into a boufant in grade school. I still have emotional scars.
Catlady6000 6 years ago
My grandma's glasses, from the 50s. If this photo is from the 80s, I can tell you from experience, she caught middle school heck for those glasses
#22
Blundering Through 2nd Grade
Suzanne Clark 6 years ago
Is that a wig? Surely no one would actually do that to a child's hair.
AzKhaleesi 6 years ago
holy c**p i had to take a double take. I thought it was me for a second until I remember I don't (and never did) wear glasses lmao. But I had that sweater, hair and everything else.
Melisa K. 6 years ago
I find it quite mental that anyone thought this was ok....
Load More Replies... Helen Katsiani 6 years ago
-Are those glasses stolen from Sophia from Golden Girls? - Is that a beehive inspired hair style?
#23
I Was Dwight Schrute When I Was 15
Norsman 6 years ago
False. Nobody can even remotely look like, be like, live like Dwight Schrute. Deutlich?
#24
1981. I Thought I Was The **** In My Band Uniform And Permed Hair, And Weighing All Of 90 Pounds (With The Cymbals)
comboplush 6 years ago
To be fair, the color of your uniform, the cymbals and your hair (and glasses) all complement each other really well.
Lucas 6 years ago
However, it is unlikely that any of that was deliberate.
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#25
A Friend's 6th Grade Picture. Not Her Grandmother
Id row 6 years ago
She is clenched and seems majorly stressed. No wonder she aged before her time.
Zoe's Mom 6 years ago
This picture actually worries me. I hope she's okay.
Load More Replies... comboplush 6 years ago
I wonder if all those pictures are a glimpse into the future? And that, in 70 years, they are again returning to that kind of look that was eerily foreshadowed in their days as a wee one..
#26
My Friend Looked Like Elton John When He Was Younger
#27
I Was In 2nd Grade. I Look Like I Am 50
Vaida Kuodytė 6 years ago
... why did they use to make glasses look so horrible? WHY? Have the people not been hurt enough? D:
Chris Miilu 6 years ago
Earrings, necklace, schoolmarm blouse and old lady's glasses. Was she in foster care with clothes from a St. Vincent de Paul thrift shop?
#28
No Front Teeth, Mom As A Stylist
Final score:
105points
Sonalee Majumdar 6 years ago
Wot. This is an amazing outfit. I’m seriously gonna copy this look. No jk.
Eric Spence 6 years ago (edited)
Too bad they are saphire blue and not ruby slippers.
Load More Replies... #29
My Sister's Glamour Shot: Age 4
Pooky Bear 6 years ago
Why do parents do glamour shots for their young children? I will never get it.
karen snyder 6 years ago
Pretty sure this is actually Mr. Bean, working a deep undercover case.
#30
Band Geek, 1987
BusLady 6 years ago
I thought this was a boy until I scrolled down and saw the skirt and petticoat.
Donna O 6 years ago
Same! Until I scrolled far enough to see the skirt, I was sure this was a guy.
Load More Replies... Catlady6000 6 years ago
I was thinking she's come to tell us the good news about band! (Im one of Jehovah's Witnesses. Loved your comment, although I like to think most of us have better fashion sense than this:)
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Beth Arriaga 6 years ago
Omg I forgot about those denim skirts with the eyelet peeking out ... Also those ruffled shirts were the bomb to go with it! Gunne Sax forever!!!!!!
#31
Uggs On The Beach, Check. Size 60 Khaki Dickies With Matching 2XL Khaki Shirt, Also Check. I Was The King Of 7th Grade
Molly Block 6 years ago
Is this a girl or a guy? Either way, I like it the best so far. Not bad!!!
#32
This Is My Wife, The 60-Year-Old-Girl, One Year Before The Original Photo
#33
Titanic, Western, Newscaster Glamour Shots: 1998 In A Nutshell
comboplush 6 years ago
She looks like she is successfully selling her own line of healing gems and angel tarot cards on QVC.
#34
I Wanted To Share My Shame With You
#35
Another Gem I Found Of My Sister -In-Law. I Will Call Her Razz Ma-Tazz With The Upside Down Baller Shades
#36
Time Was *Not* On My Side
Final score:
37points
Sunzilla 6 years ago
I had that vest! OMG it's fugly! And I thought it was so pretty. This would be 1992.
Slinkman 6 years ago
Looks like a female version of me, with glasses and beautifull timeless shirt that is.
#37
I've Been Told I Have An Old Soul. I Guess It's Because I Was 40 At 4
Rabbit Carrot 6 years ago
Nah, super cute and looks like a kid. Needs better glasses but that’s it.
Randomcthulu 6 years ago
I'm jealous of her hair, not necessarily the style, I had very fine hair as a kid
#38
In The 90's I Was A 12-Year-Old Rizzo
#40
First Day Of School, Grade 6, Circa 1988
#41
I Looked Like Macaulay Culkin Wearing A Cosby Sweater
Ohio Hands 6 years ago
Fuller was actually played by Macaulay Culkin's little brother, Kieran XD
Load More Replies... #42
When Your Mom Wanted A Poodle But Settled For Your Hair Instead
#43
I Give You The Mentally Challenged Lunch Lady, Circa 1988. Junior High Was Not Kind To Me
#44
I Looked Like A Lesbian Librarian When I Was Younger
Andrew Reyes 6 years ago
WOW!! She looks JUST LIKE a lesbian librarian I actually had in high school, down to the very same shirt, glasses, and even haircut!!!!
#45
My Grandmom Loved To Put Those Little Foam Curlers In My Hair Before Church
#46
7 Going On 70
#47
And My Friend Looked Like An Old Man When He Was A Child
#48
America Was Always Great
#49
I Was A 40-Year-Old Woman At 13
#50
The Most Embarrassing Photo I Could Find
#51
Just Found My Glamour Shot From 1995. I Was A Sassy 45-Year-Old In 7th Grade, Apparently
jevais 6 years ago
The only one who looks normal. Very chic indeed. Why are the others so overweight? Are these photos taken in the States and in England. Quite frankly this is the first time that I have seen such strange fashion mishaps. Those awfully clothes, specks and those horrible hairdos. Just unbelievable.!
#54
I Peaked At 14 When I Was 45-Years-Old
#55
Turns Out My Mother Also Looked Like A 60-Year-Old Woman When She Was Younger. She's Going To Kill Me If She Sees This
#56
I Love The Big Shoulder Pads And Teased Hair. I Doubt 90's Fashion Will Make A Comeback Anytime Soon
Final score:
29points
Joannie Goulet 6 years ago
Wicker chair, shoulder pads, ridiculous hair... Looks like my childhood photos!
#57
Recently, My Mother Found This Senior Photo Of Me From 1994. I Looked Like Nathan From South Park
#59
My Wife: Pilgrim, Futurist, Fabulous (1987)
#61
When I Was 7-Year-Old Aspiring Nun/Librarian
#62
My BF Took This On His Nintendo DS When He Was 13
Ryo Bakura 6 years ago
I'm sorry, but I'm just not interested in buying a secondhand Volkswagen Polo from you. No, I don't care that everything you own was bought with "secondhand car money".
Rabbit Carrot 6 years ago
Alan Parish from Jumanji. Glad to see he got home and finished the game.
#64
I Woke Up And Decided My Hair Was Gonna Be Yuuuuuuge
#65
Why Mom, Why
#66
She’s Beauty. She’s Grace. My 7th Grade Winter Formal
#67
Bless You, Puberty
#68
Styled Like A Soccer Mom At 13
#69
7-Year-Old Going On 70 (Circa 1994)
#70
The World's Youngest Grandmother
#71
Taken At A Mall Photo Center Circa 1993. I Loved Cats
#74
Double Trouble
#75
My Wife She Showed Me Her Old Yearbook Photo
#76
Playing The Sax Worked For Bill Clinton, Right?
Destini Robinson 6 years ago
He looks fine for real for real. I probably would've dated him back then lol. I'm dating a senior in high school who plays trumpet, and I honestly think it would've been great to get to know this dude and be with him lmao.
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Jayne Gilbert 1 year ago
This is one of the best photos ever! I can just imagine him sitting on a rocker on his front porch, watching the world go by. Absolutely adorable :-)
Add New Image
What do you think ?
Sunzilla 6 years ago
Conclusion: The 80's and early 90's didn't do anybody any fashion favours. Can we just pretend those two decades never happened? They were cruel.
Julie Renee 6 years ago
Every decade has its stupid fashion trends. I cringe every time I pick up my kid from high school and see boys sporting skinny jeans with their butts hanging out.
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Nia Loves Art 6 years ago
Why were kid glamour photos a thing? It’s such a weird concept to begin with.
Harleen 6 years ago
I hope we do a thread like this again. I should turn myself in. My parents' wedding photo also needs a spot. They were married in the 80's but everyone who's seen it thinks it's a Victorian photo
Hans 6 years ago
BP used to have many postings where the community could add. Having those back would be great, although I would not contribute with questionable photos. ;)
Load More Replies... LaDonna Hulcy 6 years ago
Who does everyone think that if you are wearing glasses you automatically look old? yea most of them are hideous but they were in style at the time. so no most of these are just cute/silly old pictures of kids. a lot of them are really cute!
Krysta Pandoo 6 years ago
I blame a lot of these on the 80s trends. Clearly everyone was either blind or suicidal or hilariously off their faces on leftover 60s expired drugs when they dressed their kids.
Anna Maria Łaska 6 years ago
The time when I was 47 years old chemistry teacher, haha :D ( I was 14!) 61068993_2...ee5053.jpg 
Sunzilla 6 years ago
Conclusion: The 80's and early 90's didn't do anybody any fashion favours. Can we just pretend those two decades never happened? They were cruel.
Julie Renee 6 years ago
Every decade has its stupid fashion trends. I cringe every time I pick up my kid from high school and see boys sporting skinny jeans with their butts hanging out.
Load More Replies... Nia Loves Art 6 years ago
Why were kid glamour photos a thing? It’s such a weird concept to begin with.
Harleen 6 years ago
I hope we do a thread like this again. I should turn myself in. My parents' wedding photo also needs a spot. They were married in the 80's but everyone who's seen it thinks it's a Victorian photo
Hans 6 years ago
BP used to have many postings where the community could add. Having those back would be great, although I would not contribute with questionable photos. ;)
Load More Replies... LaDonna Hulcy 6 years ago
Who does everyone think that if you are wearing glasses you automatically look old? yea most of them are hideous but they were in style at the time. so no most of these are just cute/silly old pictures of kids. a lot of them are really cute!
Krysta Pandoo 6 years ago
I blame a lot of these on the 80s trends. Clearly everyone was either blind or suicidal or hilariously off their faces on leftover 60s expired drugs when they dressed their kids.
Anna Maria Łaska 6 years ago
The time when I was 47 years old chemistry teacher, haha :D ( I was 14!) 61068993_2...ee5053.jpg
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