It's just a very nice number

As age is just a number I decided to pick one.  I like 42.  I haven't picked it because I'm worried about getting old.  I honestly don't care how old I am.  I picked it because after the age of 40 I struggled to remember how old I actually was every year because it didn't seem important anymore.

The children at school were all very excited about my birthday today.  "Happy Birthday. How old are you?" they all asked.  I didn't want to say 42 because it's sort-of wrong to lie to children and although I think it's getting close to 50 I couldn't be bothered to work it out; 2014-1966 is a big sum for a music teacher to do in her head. I decided to just say, "How old do you think I am?"

If I had any sense I wouldn't have posed such a dangerous question but luck was on my side today.

In the first class there was a little argument between two boys.
"Twenty four.  You're 24."
"Twenty five.  I think she's 25."
"No, you idiot, I told you 24."
It nearly came to blows.

Others plumped for a more sensible number in the 40s.  Only one child got the right number so I asked him why he thought that.  "It's because my Dad is 50 and you're much younger than him."

Only one child picked a number older than I actually am.  "You're 89!"
"Oh, that's a big number," I said
"Yes, you must be 89 because that's a sort of Granny age and you have grey hair."
ITS BLONDE!
Actually, I don't mind being 89.  I think that the children think of any age over 11 as being old and any age over 20 being staggeringly old and probably past it.

One class decided that they would sing Happy Birthday.  As soon as they entered the classroom they started singing.  They had obviously planned it because at the end of the song they started to count and clap.  I'd forgotten that children in schools give each other the number of claps that correspond to their age.  The clapping kept going for a very long time and I was getting a bit worried that they might never stop when they finished at 30.
"Did you run out of numbers?" I asked
"That's how old you are." I was told and who am I to argue?