You're just a baby!

One of the things I dislike the most about being a convert is being thrust back to little kid status.

I'm the youngest in my family. The youngest by far. AND the only girl in a very traditional family. My childhod was dominated by, "You can't do X ... you're just a baby!" kind of admonitions. I couldn't wait to grow up. I couldn't wait for people to respect my opinions, acknowledge what I knew, see my experience, give me space. In my family, that never really happened, but that's another story.

As I convert, despite all of my professional achievements, life experiences, accumulated wisdom etc., etc., I am suddenly the youngest child again. Mostly I take it in stride. But this week someone a decade younger than I took it upon themselves to write me a long admonishing e-mail regarding a comment I had made in a certain forum. Apparently I am wrong. And apparently it is because I just don't know better because I haven't been around enough. I don't dispute the basic points -- that my knowledge of Hebrew isn't strong enough to understand the "meat" of the question, and that once my Hebrew improves I may view the question differently. That being said, I can have my own opinions, thoughts and feelings, no? Whoa, that e-mail got to me.

Do any other converts feel like this?