Strange things people say to you in public

[Carrie12345]

I was waiting in line at the pharmacy and had a bag with a few red bell peppers in the basket of my cart. The woman behind me said, "Oh, I thought that was a baby in your cart!" Then she pointed at one of the peppers and said, "I thought that was its head!" Um, no, that does not remotely resemble a baby...weird!

 

Love that one!

 

I was wearing ds in a peanut sling one day, when a lady asked me if there was a baby in there.  My brain wanted to say, "Nope, just shoplifting produce!"  Instead, I said "I hope so!"

[Carrie12345]

When Youngest was between 1 month and about 4 months old, and Eldest was 18 months older then that, several times I had people asking if they were twins. 

 

???

 

One was a baby in arms, the other was walking beside me. (Eldest walked early and well). 

 

I got that a lot with my girls, 13 months apart.  It was understandable once they were 2/3ish.  Not so much when they were newborn and toddler!

 

I think I only got the "same dad" question once.  One of them is fair and blonde and the other is darker skinned and brunette, so I can understand wondering whether they're biological sisters, but you don't SAY anything.  And you definitely don't jump to paternity out loud, people!  Especially IN FRONT OF the kids.

 

FWIW, my oldest son does not have the same dad.  Did strangers in public REALLY want me to share my relationship history with them while he stood there?

[Carrie12345]

So many things are coming back to me now, lol.

 

I used to get questions or hints of questions as to whether ds was mine.  I was 21 and looked much younger.  Then he was mistaken for my husband last year, even though I no longer look younger than my 40 years.  She straight up told me she just assumed I was on a second marriage with a much younger man, lol.

 

A family friend told me that, when I dropped out of school, everyone assumed I left because I was pregnant.  My "Gee, thanks!" response didn't go over well.  She pointed out that she had had her daughter at 19, so now she was offended by my reaction.  Meanwhile, what if I had been, and chose adoption?  That would have been an extra special layer of awkward.

[Donna]

When Youngest was between 1 month and about 4 months old, and Eldest was 18 months older then that, several times I had people asking if they were twins. 

 

???

 

One was a baby in arms, the other was walking beside me. (Eldest walked early and well). 

 

I often got the same thing only I had a small for age 2.5 yo and a big 6 month old but one obviously a baby and the other walking/dancing next to the stroller talking a mile a minute.

[tdbates78]

I always get the "oh, are they twins?" I want to say DUH! They are identical. Same height, same weight, same hair color and length, same teeth missing, both wear glasses. Its rather obvious!

[EMS83]

I just give a nerdy answer when people say awkward things; they get bored fast and either wander off or glaze over.  ;)  

 

I've gotten twins comments with all pregnancies.  And with my second, it was probably warranted; I have a photo of the night before he was born and I was most unnaturally round!  I mean, I was me, and I see that picture and think, "Wow that must have hurt!"   :lol:  

 

 

[bethben]

I am amazed at how many people get comments about "if your kids are adopted". My daughter is from China and I live in an area where there are a lot of bi-racial marriages and in general a more mixed population. I have come across more than once people who think she's my biological child. They ask and not assume she's adopted. I have red hair with freckles...granted, she doesn't look obviously Chinese and could even pass for Hispanic at a quick glance but still...

 

 

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[Rachel]

My coworker and I had our first babies 5 days apart. Hers was a girl, mine a boy. She babysat for me for awhile and used to take the kids around in a twins stroller. People used to ask her if they were twins all the time. She was always annoyed by it and started answering, "No, they're 5 days apart." and walking away. She said people would just stare open mouthed trying to figure that out. :lol:

My brother and step brother are a month apart, my mom use to answer the twin question the exact same way.

 

My boys are 4 years apart in age. They were dressed alike one day and someone asked if they were twins. At first I thought they meant because they were wearing the same outfits, but it turned out the woman was really bad at guessing kid ages. My younger son was barely walking at that point, I was just about as confused as she was.

[Rachel]

I grew up in a blended family. We would frequently be asked which kids were our "real" siblings. People meant biological, but we all lived in the same house we were all real siblings.

[ktgrok]

A few weeks after #4 was born this happened:

 

Stranger: How old is she?

Me: 4 weeks

Stranger: Is she your youngest?

Me: Um...yes?? 

 

Seriously, you think I might have another kid YOUNGER than the 4 week old???

[Guest]

A few weeks after #4 was born this happened:

 

Stranger: How old is she?

Me: 4 weeks

Stranger: Is she your youngest?

Me: Um...yes??

 

Seriously, you think I might have another kid YOUNGER than the 4 week old???

Hahaha... well, I guess technically you could've had an adopted child even younger... I suppose.

 

I was on a double-date with my sister once, and her date made some comment about someone "popping out a baby every six months". He was not the brightest crayon in the box.

[UncleEJ]

When DD was under one year I would get all the questions while out like how old is she, what's her name, ect.

 

I had this convo many, many times.

 

Stranger: Aww! She's so cute, what's her name.

Me: June

Stranger: Oh! was she born in June?

Me: Nope, July.

Stranger: Ohhh....umm

 

Since when does a child with a month name have to have been born in that month? So many people were honestly thrown by this. She was named after her grandmother, people!

[zoobie]

When DD was under one year I would get all the questions while out like how old is she, what's her name, ect.

 

I had this convo many, many times.

 

Stranger: Aww! She's so cute, what's her name.

Me: June

Stranger: Oh! was she born in June?

Me: Nope, July.

Stranger: Ohhh....umm

 

Since when does a child with a month name have to have been born in that month? So many people were honestly thrown by this. She was named after her grandmother, people!

I had friends (sisters) in high school who were August and April. Named after when they were conceived. Yikes.

[purpleowl]

I had friends (sisters) in high school who were August and April. Named after when they were conceived. Yikes.

I met someone once (as in, this was the only conversation we ever had) who was happy to inform me that her son was named Jason because she didn't know she was pregnant for her first five months - July, August, September, October, November.

[Clemsondana]

I've got 2 stories. I had some birth complications with my first baby, so my 6 week dr apt and subsequent stop by the drug store for assorted supplies was my first solo outing with the baby. I was pushing the cart up and down the aisles and noticed that this guy was always behind me, no matter where I went...food, diapers, feminine supplies, cosmetics...I was getting nervous when he made eye contact and said "I don't mean to scare you, ma'am, but your baby is so beautiful that I couldn't stop looking.' We were in the southwest at the time, and bald blonde blue-eyed babies were rare, but still, bizarre.

 

The second occurred about a year later - we were out at a casual restaurant to celebrate my birthday, and the waiter made a comment about my 'grandson'. I said that no, this was my son. Instead of being embarrassed, he asked if I was sure! He made 'Are you sure this isn't your grandson?' comments a couple more times when he came back to the table, until I finally said 'I'm turning 32, celebrating my birthday with my almost 1-year-old - is that really so hard to believe?'. While I no longer looked like I was 20, I didn't have gray hair or some other marker of age...and the guy said 'Wow, we're about the same age', and showed me a picture of his toddler! The whole situation was so strange...it would have made more sense if the guy was 16 and everybody over 20 was 'old' but we were the same age, with kids the same age.

[Jean in Newcastle]

I get the Grandmother thing a lot.

 

I was in the grocery store and the deli manager made a comment about my "grandson ". I said "he's my son". And she corrected me and said "grandson ". We went back and forth a bit before I told her that I was quite capable of knowing who I gave birth to. Then my daughter came along and she said "she's your ...?" And I jumped in with "daughter!"

 

The nicest grandma comment though was when the kids at the Y told mine that they had a cool

Grandma. I will take that one.

 

I think that chronic illness and how stiffly I move contributes to the whole grandma thing.

 

 

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[Lorien]

We were checking out at Walmart when this total stranger walked up behind me and stood there waiting.

 

Strange Man: They all yours?

Me: Yes

Strange Man tries to look around me so I take a small step back so he can see: What's their age range?

Me: 15 down to the baby who isn't a year old yet.

Strange Man: There's a Baby too?! I didn't see it!

Hubby steps aside so Strange Man can see the massive stroller/car seat combo that very skinny hubby was obviously totally blocking from sight 🙄.

Strange Man keeps staring, then when I look at him questioningly he said: I'm just looking for a family resemblance!

I turned away hoping the cashier would hurry when the guy made a noise so I looked up.

Strange Man: Blended family?

Me: No.

Strange Man waits a moment then tries again: Second marriage?

Me: No, first marriage for both of us.

Strange Man leans to the side so he can see past me and pointedly looked at DH: They all yours?

DH nodded: Yes, sir! Yes, they are!

Strange Man: You guys been busy!

He was quiet for a moment then he called out: You're a good man!

 

Over the years we've had the standard "They all yours?" questions come from all kinds of people, but this took it to the extreme!

 

Another comment we had a long time ago..... we were out shopping when the cashier noted that we had four kids and were expecting number five. She got all goggle-eyed and gasped, "You remind me of the Duggars!" Yep, 'cause five kids is so close to 19!

 

We live in an area where large families are not common at all, so we get comments on our family size all the time.

[Lorien]

Another one I almost forgot.

 

The OB who delivered our number seven found out how many kids we had. Then he laughed and told us that he had ten and we needed to have more so we could catch up with him! 😊

[zoobie]

A 72 year old?

 

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I thought the PP said FIL was asking his 72 year old wife whether the baby's mother was breastfeeding.

[ktgrok]

I will say, the best "nosy" comments I get are from hispanic women ages 50 and up. As a group they seem to all LOVE babies. I've even had them move aside my carrier to get a better look at the baby. And honestly, I don't even mind. The sheer love emanating them as they coo how pretty she is makes me smile. The world needs more hispanic grandmas. 

[Alicia64]

I'd say that the "sick" lady commenting was trying to be funny, She assumed you'd laugh with her at her own hair.

[HS Mom in NC]

Youngest was adopted from S. Korea and has very golden brown skin along with her black slanted eyes, tiny Asian nose and black hair. An intern at the ped's office asked, while holding her entire medical file, with the original Korean medical files along with English translations:

Intern: "Is your husband dark?"
Me: "I'm sorry, I didn't hear you." (I really did think I heard it wrong.)

Intern: "Is your husband dark?"
(Pause while I processed what she was talking about then deciding to intentionally misunderstand.)
Me: "You mean like a Sith Lord? No, he's a nice guy."

Intern: "What?"
Me: "She's adopted."
Intern: "Oh." (With genuine surprise in her voice.)

There are several kinds of smart.  Clearly that intern only has the kind that helps you pass academic tests. I get that not everyone who sees us is automatically going to assume we're mother and daughter through adoption, but that's the only person wanting to know if I contributed DNA to her.  Yeah, it could happen, but the odds that someone with extremely fair skin, green eyes and red hair (it's a dye job but they don't know that) made a baby with any Asian guy and produced a kid with exclusively Asian features is pretty low.  If only she had glanced at the medical file before walking in she wouldn't have seemed so dumb.

[Jean in Newcastle]

 

 the odds that someone with extremely fair skin, green eyes and red hair (it's a dye job but they don't know that) made a baby with any Asian guy and produced a kid with exclusively Asian features is pretty low.  If only she had glanced at the medical file before walking in she wouldn't have seemed so dumb.

 

My own experience with my biological eurasian kids is that as they developed throughout childhood, they went through times when they indeed looked exclusively Asian.  And they had times when they looked more mixed.  Or more white.  And both of my children, while looking like each other, still have different skin tones and hair color so that one looks more exclusively Asian than the other.  The only thing that really marks my son as not being Asian is that he has a red beard in addition to his black hair, brown skin tone and dark eyes.  Many people think that he dyes it, but he does not. 

 

None of which speaks to your experience of course.  It just suggested this rabbit trail. 

[Seeking Squirrels]

My coworker and I had our first babies 5 days apart. Hers was a girl, mine a boy. She babysat for me for awhile and used to take the kids around in a twins stroller. People used to ask her if they were twins all the time. She was always annoyed by it and started answering, "No, they're 5 days apart." and walking away. She said people would just stare open mouthed trying to figure that out.  :lol:

I watched my cousin's kid from when he was 4 months to 2 years old. He is 8 months younger than my oldest. I got the "are they twins?" question a lot. It made more sense toward the end when he was almost 2, but I got it from the first outing when he was 4 months and she was a walking 1 yr old. I started just saying "no, they're 8 months apart". Some went on their way, some paused to think about that. 

 

I have to brag on my daughter a bit for background. She is of course still totally adorable, but when she was in infant, she really was strikingly beautiful. She looked like the Gerber baby or a baby model. I had people telling me that, perfect strangers, all the time, everywhere I went. But this one particular lady, after breathlessly going on and on and on that my daughter was so gorgeous, unbelievably pretty, the most beautiful baby she'd ever seen in her life then added "She looks NOTHING like you!!!"

 

Yeah, um, thanks.

 

ETA: I couldn't really fault the lady, because it was absolutely true! Luckily my dd took after her paternal grandmother more than me. :)

 

My friend in high school said the opposite in an embarrassing moment. Our male spanish teacher was quite good looking. Friend and I had daycare the class before spanish and his wife was also a teacher so their child attended. When they had a new baby, we were so excited to meet the little one. He was the most gorgeous baby I had ever seen. When we walked into spanish that first day baby came, friend went up to teacher and began gushing about how cute his baby was and then added "he looks just like you!" She then realized what she'd said and ran to her seat to hide.  

[Piper]

Hahaha, this thread is cracking me up!

 

When I was pregnant, I carried in front and got pretty large. At the grocery store one day a lady asked me how far along I was. When I told her 7 months, she looked amazed and said, "Are you sure??"   :001_rolleyes: No, lady, I'm an idiot and so is my doctor...

 

ETA: Oh, this one happened just last week. There was a yard sale in our neighborhood, and I was walking around by myself looking at what was on offer. One rather pushy lady, trying to sell her son's Cars bedding to me, asked me if I had grandsons?!  WTH, lady - I mean, I know I'm tired, but really?! I don't look that old!  I just looked at her, kind of laughing in shock, then she changed her question to whether I had sons. News flash, lady: if make the assumption that is more complimentary *first* next time, you might make a sale!!!

Edited May 27, 2017 by Piper

[AnnE-girl]

I was asked by multiple random people if I was sure I wasn't further along or having twins with my first. Nope, I'm just 4'11" and he was over 8lbs.

 

I think I've told this story on here before, but the same ticket lady at the zoo who thought I was young enough for a kids' admission (we had a membership, so by her calculation we had too many kids for our pass, she wasn't offering me a reduced price) asked DH if he robbed the cradle when he told her I was his wife. He's only 18 months older than me.

[AndyJoy]

People have asked if my brother and I are twins.

 

We are 2 1/2 years apart, he's 6'2 and I'm barely 5'4.

I knew twins in college who were 6'4" (boy) and 4'10" (girl). They were very close and had good fun surprising people with the fact that they were twins. We teased him about hogging all the nutrients in utero ;). Also they were both decent cross-country runners but the joke that went around was that she was much better because she had to take two or three strides to match his one.

[AndyJoy]

When I was 16-18 I did the bulk of my family's grocery shopping, as my parents were both working, I enjoyed it, and it freed up time for us to be together. Sometimes I shopped during school hours when I had a free period. I also looked a bit young for my age. One clerk would give me the weirdest looks but never ask any questions.

 

Then once I babysat 3 kids, aged 3, 4, and 6 for a weekend. I took them shopping, and the clerk exclaimed, "Oh, so these are your kids! I always see you in here shopping and I wondered." I laughed and said, "Oh no, I'm 18 and in high school. I'm just babysitting; they're not mine." She looked at me disbelievingly, then as she handed me my receipt she asked, "Are any of them yours?" It was so odd that she wouldn't believe me. She was apparently sure I was a young teen mom, but a single childless adult, let alone just a high school student didn't make sense?

 

Then when I bought all the cake mixes for my graduation party (during school hours) she asked what they were for and I explained. Once again I got the weird disbelieving look. So odd.

[EKS]

I've had people argue over whether I was a man or a woman before.  I finally asked if they wanted me to tell them who was right.

Edited May 28, 2017 by EKS

[SporkUK]

I've had people argue over whether I was a man or a woman before.  I finally asked if they wanted me to tell them who was right.

 

I once had a guy in a shop argue with me about this. When I was over 8 months pregnant. He had said "young man" and started talking and asking random questions but I hadn't responded - thought he was talking to someone behind me while I was checking out. He got rather annoyed about it. Even after I pointed out I'm a woman, the obvious bump, the cloth cap I was wearing which was rather feminine [he said my lack of hair made me look male, the cap was white with gold and black swirly trim]. He still seemed annoyed when I left. 

 

I got a lot more strange comments when my kids were small. Once had someone think I had a dog in a baby carrier in a shop...she was shocked he was an actual baby. Another time on the bus, someone thought he was a doll, I've had people argue my eldest as a baby was a girl because he is apparently too pretty to be a boy or talked like a girl when he was babbling/copying. Also got some odd remarks when I used mobility scooters or canes or other devices, especially with the kids, it seemed to attract people to not engage their brains before talking [or shouting on occasions]. 

 

The absolute weirdest involved neither though. I was in like an indoor market stall type shop which had electronics in a big  locked cabinet. The owner was unlocking it for the person in front of me and asked if I wanted something from in there as well. I said "No, I just want these glasses". Apparently, my accent amused another person, random other shopper, who then proceeded for the next 3-5+ minutes for the person in front of me and myself to checkout kept repeating the word "glasses" in an what I think was an over exaggerated version of my accent over and over. It was so strange and at the time quite intimidating. Never had anything like it before or since. 

[momacacia]

I had a woman ask me how I had a blue-eyed child. For background, I have brown eyes and DH has blue eyes. I told her my father had blue eyes so I carry the gene.

 

DH (talking to stranger): "Honestly, we're not certain she's the mother, but we know I'm the father."

 

He then walked away from the confused woman. I thought the story was good for a laugh.

 

:lol:

[Word Nerd]

My older DD was mistaken for a boy as a baby because she had fine, white-blonde hair that never really grew in until she was a toddler, so she looked almost bald. I did find it odd when one older gentleman told me what a cute baby boy I had while she was wearing a pink dress.

[Miss Marple]

On our first family trip to London the boys ranged in age from 6-12.  We rode the bus, underground, and walked everywhere.  Quite a few people asked us "are they all from the same parents?" - I guess they assumed we were a blended family.  Nope...we had 4 and take them everywhere.  I'm sure we were conspicuous as we tried to keep all 4 boys walking nicely down the sidewalk...minding the gap on the underground, and not stepping off the curb into traffic.  People seemed surprised to see a family with 4 kids in tow.

[Um_2_4]

Egads... too much.... that's the strange things people tell me in public.

 

One woman offered to "help me escape" and handed me a domestic violence shelter card with a # on it and her name?? And she spoke really odd, like slow and enunciated like she thought I couldn't understand her???  (I was out shopping with my 4, the 2 youngest were like <1 year and in a double stroller, so 5yo, 3yo and the twins. No bruises, black eyes or the like to make her think that. Gee, I am a mom of 4 under 5, maybe I'm just tired??? Or was it because I had 4 under 5??? Or was it because I'm Muslim?? Who knows!)

 

Really, in the summer, if you see a Muslim woman wearing hijab, you do not need to go on and on loudly to her or in her hearing about how you "could never" go out wearing "all that". We know it is hot, trust us we know what materials/fabric/styles to buy that keep us cool. Believe me my hair is wet under that hijab to act as a built in a/c and under that jilbab we might be wearing a tank top and capris. Just saying. If I had a dollar for every time I heard that.....well, I'd be rich.

[Forget-Me-Not]

My drivers license was due to expire shortly after #4 was due, and I had to go in and get a new picture. Figuring this would be easier before he arrived, I went off to the DMV (side note: don't have a new DL picture taken when you're 8.5 months pregnant. Just don't do it). After I sat in a hard plastic chair for an hour, the lady at the photo booth asked if I was expecting twins. When I replied no, she asked if I was sure.

 

Then there was the grocery cashier who told me she'd kill herself if she was pregnant again. She looked too old to be pregnant again (really, not being snarky), so I'm not sure what that was about.

Edited May 29, 2017 by Forget-me-not

[4Kiddos]

- When I was getting married to my husband, my MIL said that her sister was a MaryKay expert and was going to do my makeup for the wedding. Since it was such a big deal, I said sure. She lived out of state so I had never met her. So, when I met her the morning of our wedding and she was doing my makeup she said that my husband was such a wonderful guy and that she always wanted her daughter (his cousin) to marry him and was sad it didn't work out that way. I didn't know what to say. It was so odd hearing that she wanted him to marry his cousin the day I was marrying him. (She ended up being super nice but it was WEIRD).

 

- When I was eight months pregnant with my fourth, I had just had a long day of grocery shopping with my other three kids in tow. We were at our last stop and the receipt checker at Sam's loudly exclaimed when I got there "Wow, you look like an elephant!" It really shocked me and hurt my feeling. I started crying right there as I was so tired. I also burst into tears when I got home and my husband asked how it went.

[ktgrok]

[quote name="Forget-me-not" post="7616938" timestamp="1496078250

 

Then there was the grocery cashier who told me she'd kill herself if she was pregnant again. She looked too old to be pregnant again (really, not being snarky), so I'm not sure what that was about.

 

Someone said the same thing to me! Suicide seems a bit much. So weird. I mean how do you respond to that? And then there was the guy who told me I had to be the biggest and most pregnant person ever in the history of the world. To his credit, he was drunk.

[IlluminatedAttic]

My husband is hispanic and I am caucasian with dark hair and eyes, so while my kids are all a bit darker than I am seeing me as their mom doesn't require that much of leap. When my dd was about four months old I was shopping one evening at Michael's and one of the managers interrupted my conversation with another employee to LOUDLY exclaim, "Oh my Gawd! She's beautiful! Where'd you get her?" I was stunned and must have stammered because she immediately continued, "Oh, I know, I know, dear. Grew in your heart not under it and all that jazz. But WHERE did you get her from?" After I came to my senses I answered that she was my biological child. The woman was aghast, mumbled an, "Oh, I'm sorry" and walked away. BUT that was not the end of it. Five minutes later she tracked me down on the opposite side of the store and started in, loudly from the other end of the aisle, "You know what it was? I was so confused because one of those Chinese or Japanese type families was in here earlier and those kids are almost always adopted, so I just had them in my mind when I saw you! That was probably their real mom, too, cause she looked like Chinese or something, but you know what I mean. That's why I was thinking about it"  :001_huh:

 

My ds is almost 12 and has the longest hair you've probably ever seen on a boy, down past his tush. Still, I'm always amazed how he can be dressed in full Boy Scout uniform and there are scout masters who will tell the other boys, "Let the girl go first."

 

He draws lot of comments, as you can probably guess. What is weird is that *I* am regularly asked if I'm divorced or widowed or some version of, "Isn't his father around?" because people assume a father would make him cut his hair. 

 

[Guest]

I had a woman ask me how I had a blue-eyed child. For background, I have brown eyes and DH has blue eyes. I told her my father had blue eyes so I carry the gene.

 

Stranger: "No, really. How does your child have blue eyes?"

Me: Long-winded explanation on genetics and gene dominance

Stranger: "I still don't understand how your child has blue eyes."

Me: "Well, my child just does." (walk away)

DH (talking to stranger): "Honestly, we're not certain she's the mother, but we know I'm the father."

 

He then walked away from the confused woman. I thought the story was good for a laugh.

I got this before by a server at a restaurant when we were all out to dinner. It was astonishing to me that a total stranger would question my son's blue eyes when there are so MANY possible reasons he could have blue eyes while neither DH nor I do. Maybe he's adopted. Maybe he's not my son. Maybe he has a different dad. Maybe I had a sperm donor. Maybe...lots of things. Or maybe DH and I both carry recessive blue; his father, my mother. Geez. This was our server! Guess there wasn't a lot of concern for a good TIP.

[Daria]

My husband is hispanic and I am caucasian with dark hair and eyes, so while my kids are all a bit darker than I am seeing me as their mom doesn't require that much of leap. When my dd was about four months old I was shopping one evening at Michael's and one of the managers interrupted my conversation with another employee to LOUDLY exclaim, "Oh my Gawd! She's beautiful! Where'd you get her?" I was stunned and must have stammered because she immediately continued, "Oh, I know, I know, dear. Grew in your heart not under it and all that jazz. But WHERE did you get her from?" After I came to my senses I answered that she was my biological child. The woman was aghast, mumbled an, "Oh, I'm sorry" and walked away. BUT that was not the end of it. Five minutes later she tracked me down on the opposite side of the store and started in, loudly from the other end of the aisle, "You know what it was? I was so confused because one of those Chinese or Japanese type families was in here earlier and those kids are almost always adopted, so I just had them in my mind when I saw you! That was probably their real mom, too, cause she looked like Chinese or something, but you know what I mean. That's why I was thinking about it"  :001_huh:

 

My ds is almost 12 and has the longest hair you've probably ever seen on a boy, down past his tush. Still, I'm always amazed how he can be dressed in full Boy Scout uniform and there are scout masters who will tell the other boys, "Let the girl go first."

 

He draws lot of comments, as you can probably guess. What is weird is that *I* am regularly asked if I'm divorced or widowed or some version of, "Isn't his father around?" because people assume a father would make him cut his hair. 

 

I've gotten the opposite.  My kid is somewhat formal.  He dresses somewhat formally (e.g. polo and khakis when other kids are in basketball shorts and T shirts).  He's meticulous with the pleases and thank you's, likes to call people sir and ma'am.  It's just who he is.

 

I've had people comment several times that he must have learned this from his Dad.   When I tell them nope, I'm a single parent and have been since I adopted him when he was a newborn, they ask if I'm sure.  Sometimes they suggest other possibilities like "maybe he's deployed?"  Ummm, wouldn't I know if I had a deployed husband?  It's not something one usually forgets.  

 

I guess a polite black boy, without a father, is as hard to wrap one's mind around as a long haired boy with one. 

[katilac]

We need more reaction buttons. "Like" just doesn't express it for many of these. 

[bethben]

I remember once I was dressing my 6 year old disabled son in the dressing room at the physical therapy place while my 4 year old was standing by. I was bending over while I was dressing him and a woman proclaimed how busy I must be. I stood up and she saw my very pregnant belly. Her eyes popped open. She asked,"What are you having?!?" I told her a boy. Her response? "Figures!" It made me feel like I was a victim of something--I have no idea of what.

 

 

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[EMS83]

Everyone assumed that one boy and one girl was perfect and I should want to be done.  And some were genuinely disappointed, it seemed, when #3 threw off the balance.   :confused1:

[Carrie12345]

Everyone assumed that one boy and one girl was perfect and I should want to be done. And some were genuinely disappointed, it seemed, when #3 threw off the balance. :confused1:

I doubled down. Had one after a boy and girl, then had another after 2 boys and 2 girls!

[TravelingChris]

^{WE have had stupid statements because we have some variety of red hair.  When dh and I were dating, one worker at a rest stop claimed we have to be brother and sister. Now my dh and I do not look alike.  We did both have reddish hair= his was strawberry blond and mine was light auburn and we both do have blueish eyes- his are blue and mine are blue-green but other than coloring, we do not look at all alike.  Makes me wonder if the lady said the same thing to couples who are AA or Asian or NA.  After all, many of those people have the similar coloring too.}

 

^{Then there was the person who seeing my dh, me, her brother who has a red beard, her sister who has both reddish and blonde tones to her light brown hair, asked where my youngest, who has gorgeous red hair where it came from.  That is completely opposite from the more pleasant reaction of the Park ranger in NYC who remarked how much we looked like a family with all of us having some red in our hair.} 

[Beaniemom]

^{WE have had stupid statements because we have some variety of red hair. When dh and I were dating, one worker at a rest stop claimed we have to be brother and sister. Now my dh and I do not look alike. We did both have reddish hair= his was strawberry blond and mine was light auburn and we both do have blueish eyes- his are blue and mine are blue-green but other than coloring, we do not look at all alike. Makes me wonder if the lady said the same thing to couples who are AA or Asian or NA. After all, many of those people have the similar coloring too.}

 

^{Then there was the person who seeing my dh, me, her brother who has a red beard, her sister who has both reddish and blonde tones to her light brown hair, asked where my youngest, who has gorgeous red hair where it came from. That is completely opposite from the more pleasant reaction of the Park ranger in NYC who remarked how much we looked like a family with all of us having some red in our hair.}

This reminded me of a time in college. My boyfriend and I both had red hair. We were the same age. He was over 6' tall. I'm just 5'2". We were alone at a golf range and he was attempting to teach me the proper way to hit a golf ball. Two men arrive and we overhear one say to the other how nice it was to see a dad teaching his daughter golf. I was torn between being offended and laughing hysterically. We left soon after.

[Katy]

My sister's worst story tops all of mine - she has creepily had several men at Walmart ask to *BUY* her blonde infant daughter.  I thought she was kidding until I went with her one day and someone made the comment, "How much for her?" while pointing at my niece right in front of me.  I told her she should call the police.  Because Eeewww.

[Xahm]

People always ask me how much I'll sell my kids for. It's a common bad joke, not something I get weirded out by. Of course, in your sister's case the tone could have been different and made it creepy.

 

It always amuses me when I hear people bending over backwards not to say the obvious, kind of insulting thing, but it comes out of their mouth anyway. My first two are a girl and a boy. So many people came over to us, said something like "how perfect, one of each" then got horrified looks on their faces and followed up with sputtering "of course, you can have more, all families are great, I mean, uh..." now that I have three young ones I get a lot of "my, you have your hands full" or "I don't know how you do it" quickly followed by "kids are such a great blessing, they are so cute." I don't know if I live in a considerate place or if I look scary.

[Lawana]

I was at a grocery store with the twin brothers I babysit who were young two's at the time. One has straight light brown hair, while his brother has curly red hair which was quite long, having not yet been cut. We were waiting at the deli counter when a 70ish woman came up to us exclaiming about what a beautiful girl! I informed her he was a boy, but she insisted it couldn't be! Nothing I could say would convince her otherwise. We parted with her being utterly convinced I was wrong about the sex of the child.

[NikiSC]

These are too funny! I only have two children so I don't get these comments. However, I always have random strangers tell me their very dysfunctional life stories or struggles, mostly in the check out line😳. I don't know if I look nice or what but it's strange and usually uncomfortable. I wonder if these people always over share with strangers or if I have a gift. One example, a woman told me all about her yeast infection and wanted to know if her symptoms were normal or what I thought she should use😕. To make matters worse, I'm an encourager so I listen and try to find something kind to say. My children get so embarrassed when this happens, lol. Even the children throwing tantrums in the store will come talk to me and tell me all about their new toy or pet, etc.😬. There was a kid *threatening* his mother over fireworks who then came and told me all about them and how much fun he was going to have later 😟. All I could muster that time was a nervous chuckle.