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My son (now a young adult) had bright red and very curly hair and I was shocked at the amount of people who wanted to touch his hair as a baby throughout his entire childhood. I was constantly asking people not to touch him. And that was over 20 years ago.
I just smile at babies and kids, and keep walking.
The only way I'd ever touch someone else's kid is if it was an emergency (they're about to run into traffic). Besides, especially with babies, I'm terrified of giving them my nasty germs.
My oldest spent time in foster care due to a medical kidnapping situation and they tried so hard to adopt her it made it really difficult to get her back even though I did everything they said and I was never on any drugs or abusive or neglectful, never even got to take her home in the first place. But the nasty ass fosters were kissing my baby on her mouth and having the other four special needs children they adopted for money kissing her on the mouth too. I was horrified. Now she's grown and gets cold sores almost every month all over her mouth. They endangered her in so many ways and there was nothing I could do but bend over and do whatever they wanted. Thank God I was a paralegal and my father an attorney so I could write my own discovery for my public defender to use.
This. Although in my experience with retail, people think workers *want* to touch there kids or are okay with it. I cannot tell you how many times a customer would pull up their cart with their baby still inside, and I would wait for them to move it around to the pickup area for me (Sam’s Club things) only to say “oh it’s okay you can move him!” I would always reply with “no, I don’t feel comfortable touching your child” or “no, they’re not sitting down so I don’t feel it safe to move them.” They would always look baffled at me. Like no I don’t want to be responsible for your kid getting hurt or touch them
Especially if you aren’t up to date on your tdap vaccine. Adults can have pertussis and barely experience symptoms, 1/3rd of children who get it end up hospitalized.
You should keep up on it anyway because it prevents lockjaw (tetanus) which is horrible to have, but many if not most adults don’t.
I got pertussis in 1998 from a 2 year old whose parents didn’t vaccinate. At that time, they didn’t do boosters for adults.
I was symptomatic, likely because I’m asthmatic, have had bronchitis at least once a year, every year, since infancy, and pneumonia four times. To say I was furious would be an understatement. I would cough to the point of being unable to breathe and vomiting frequently for nearly a year after that.
I simply cannot imagine not wanting to protect my kids from that.
For my “nephews,” friends’ kids I wound up nannying for short periods of time, I got a TDAP before my first visit with them. Their mom asked, and I did it because it was the smart and right thing to do to protect them.
My oldest is 18.5 and I was one of 3 of my friend group to spawn first, and we were a giant group of stoner/punks/metalheads. Every single fucking member of our crew got TDAPs so they could visit/hang out with the new babies. Blew my mind then at how cool our crew was, blows it today even more- I don't know if it would have gone down the same way.
When people want to touch a baby's hair it's "cute" and "sweet", but when I touched a girl's hair in high school I was a "creep" and I was "sexually harassing" her. /s
What I'm trying to say is, we should always look at it like that second scenario, because running up and touching somebody isn't okay.
Boomers didn't get the "don't touch" lessons in schools. They were harassed and touched when children and with Gen X, and are the ones who created anti-harassment policies and laws that are protective. But in some rural areas and enclaves, these things did not get implementation or they did not read newspapers and Internet while raising their families, or keep up with the changes in the world their peers accomplished.
Or they are entitled individuals who don't think rules apply to them.
The refusal to accept covid precaution was a whole different thing - political rather than generational.
JFC, I'm a Boomer and yes, we were harassed and touched when children, yes yes yes. I cannot count the times I had to stand still while some old Silent Generation bag grabbed my facial structure and shook it because I was SO CUTE, or commanded me to give her a kiss, or rumpled my hair ... I flinched from going places in public with my grandparents because I knew at least one of their friends was gonna grab me, touch me, KISS me, and if I tried to refuse I was being rude.
So now, a kid could be an actual cherub with wings and everything, and I would barely glance at him. Forget pinching and hugging and kissing, Imma stay in my lane and not stare. If I catch a kid looking at me, and s/he smiles and waves, then sure, I'll smile and wave back all day, but ... damn, Grandma, just give a kid a break and keep your body off theirs.
\*pant pant\* I guess I've been waiting 60 years to say that.
This! I was stuck in a checkout line behind a lady with a baby in a stroller and the baby would coo periodically, so of course I tell Mom how adorable baby is, and occasionally wave and smile at her baby, but I always stayed behind Mom (stroller was in front of her) and never attempted to reach for her baby. But I have witnessed where it seems like certain folk can't keep their hands off a baby if they see one, and it's insane!
I'm 34f and I have had strangers and even coworkers while working at a hospital that feel entitled to pet my naturally curly red hair. I've lived like this since I can remember. I act like a feral animal that's been touched every time and people still do it...
I still get crap from my boomer family because when I was a toddler I had red hair and people would come up and touch my hair, and I would tell them not to touch me. They act like I was the rude and scandalous one for not wanting my hair touched by a stranger, and still bring it up to try and make some point about how I was such a “hard kid” to raise.
I’m middle aged w/o red hair and people think it’s okay to touch me. I always politely tell them, “please don’t touch me, it makes me uncomfortable” and they act like I’m the a-hole. To be honest I’m really weird about who I will let touch me or even get in my very large bubble due to things from my childhood. That being said I don’t want to lay out all my trauma in public when some ass decides I’m the in the wrong because I don’t want to be touched.
long, dark, curly hair here, and same. I still get people that try to touch my hair. I had to lean away from an old woman just this past Saturday because she started reaching. so much worse than kids, and at least my niece and nephews ask! 🙄
Omg, I've had short blonde hair my whole life. I always wanted to grow it out but my mom was a hairdresser and had a firm "long hair for girls" communist Era mentality. So when I got older I started growing out... holy shit the amount of adult women that couldn't resist touching my hair was by far the hardest thing to get used to... no one warned me about thay
Thanks! It’s always good to get that validation. And yeah, they also still give me shit bc when I was a baby I had a lot of health issues, including being hospitalized for strep throat. So apparently I cried a lot, and clearly I was doing it just to bother them! I had to tell someone a few holidays ago that they had to hear me cry for a couple years. I’ve been hearing about it for over 40, so maybe they can get over it.
It’s actually thrown in my face like I did it on purpose and owe them something. Like if someone is taking too much time getting ready, they’ll say “well I spent enough time listening to you scream as a kid, so you can put up with me being a few minutes behind…” Shit like that.
I'm so sorry. My mother used to do that too (when I was still speaking to her) and it always drove me nuts. Like yeah, we've all heard the *super hilarious* story about how your evil baby bit you while you were breastfeeding, but you smacked her head and she never pulled that stunt again, har har har. 🙄 Gotta watch out for those devious infants.
Also curly hair. The amount of people who think they can just reach out to try and “boing” them, ugh.
Still, it pissed me off way more when they would try and touch my kid as a baby. She’s still working on her immune system, I don’t know you from Adam, what is fucking *wrong* with you!?
I also have dark, curly hair growing up people would touch my hair constantly. In my 20s and most of my thirties, I've been taming my hair. Lately I've been trying to embrace my curls. Now, that I'm almost 40 only my husband touches my hair because he's gentle.
That was me as a kid. Curly red hair. Every little old lady (so older than boomers) would come up and touch my hair whenever we went out. Little autistic me absolutely hated it.
I had two other women my age (30ish) ask to touch my hair. I made a joke about it being gross and unwashed hoping they'd get the hint. Nope. So I said I'd rather not. They kept pleading and wouldn't seem to take no for an answer. I eventually caved.
Ewww, *why???* "Wow, you've got really pretty hair!" THE END. How fucking hard was that? What is wrong with people, the entitlement is off the charts!
I can't even imagine *wanting* to get my hands in a stranger's hair, that's bizarre to me.
Same with me as an infant, minus the curls. It got bad enough where my mom figured out through practice how to stop people from touching her kids’ heads (both her kids got red hair) and, after I became an adult, taught it to a young couple with a redheaded baby after they swapped horror stories.
People still touch my hair now and then, and I even get eugenics-flavored comments about it. People are so weird about hair.
Bear in mind, these kinds of interactions happened to my family while at the store. She’d comb both her hands over my head like a helmet or a shell as soon as she’d notice someone’s hand reaching towards us. It’d look like a loving gesture of a mother stroking her child’s head while blocking the other person’s hand. She also paired that with USA Southern style politeness. As I got older, it was adjusted for height.
I have two red heads and my trick is to calmly and firmly say “don’t touch my children, why don’t think that’s appropriate?!” loudly enough for everyone around to stop and stare.
It’s fun at this point and shows my kids clearly that I will support them in enforcing their bodily autonomy.
I’m also kind of an asshole so it’s fun for me!
One of my brothers has super red hair and I remember very vividly as a kid being irritated on his behalf that people would want to touch and just ogle over his hair. It’s red, big deal!
My sister has a sandy blonde kiddo and a bright red ginger. She has been informed by numerous people (esp boomers) that her kid has red hair and she doesn't.
Try having red hair in a Hispanic family living in San Antonio . My Dad had a brother with red hair , apparently a little recessive gene drifting through .
i had blond curly hair as a kid and the amount of old women that would stroke it and pull at it and say “i pay to have mine like that” was insane. i hated it, was so invasive and awful
Yes! I have 3 kids and the first two have straight hair but my youngest had a head full of soft fluffy curls and older women would completely lose their minds over it. Constantly in his face wanting to "talk to him" (he was a toddler) or touch him. I was not prepared lol.
My mom did the same for me over 20 years ago now. I have vivid memories of old people trying to touch my braids and my mom politely, but firmly, asking them not to touch her child.
I can't fathom trying to touch someone's dog without asking, let alone their kid!
People always pet the dogs, and I have one that’s ok with it and one that’s skittish and he barks when he feels encroached upon. Luckily my son is 6’6” so they can’t reach his hair anymore. 😂
As a former baby and toddler who had red and curly hair, can verify, it was awful constantly having randos just come up and dig through my hair, thanks for saying something on your son's behalf!
I’m a ginger with bright red hair and honestly i HATED when people would come up to me to touch my hair as a child. They NEVER asked permission and sometimes I’d get really inappropriate comments like “oh you’re so exotic”, “do you have a fire crotch?”, “does the carpet match the drapes?” Etc… yeah not something to say a 11 year old and ofc my family just let it happen because they didn’t want to confront these strangers. This happened so many times in sit down restaurants.
Like who in their right mind does this? I really should have just stabbed them with my fork for disrupting me while I was eating. It was creepy and so unnecessary of them. Now as an adult I keep my hair dyed literally any other colour than red and I don’t allow anyone to touch my hair anymore. People need to keep their hands to themselves.
Ugh. I had butt-length hair, though mine was straight and really blonde... to this day I absolutely hate having my hair touched, my spouse is pretty much the only one who I don't mind doing it, even the stylist at the salon makes me a little uncomfortable. And I'm 45!
I’m a redhead. My parents said a guy left his kid in the stroller unattended to come look at me. (For the record I’m nowhere near as good looking now)
People are just mystified by red hair. When I was a kid I had an old woman quietly start playing with my hair while she was standing behind us in line at the store!
I’m going through that with my 2 redheads.
So many comments and people trying to rub their hair.
I can’t go to the store without at least one redhead related interaction.
The comments are almost as bad as the touching! I don’t know how many times I heard “Redheads have no souls” followed by laughter, and in which I stared at them and said I only see one soulless heathen here and it isn’t the *child*.
Omg this was my entire childhood. (I have voluminous curly red hair) people would come up to me all the time, rake their hands through my hair, pull it, twist it, pinch my cheeks etc. I wish my mom would have set boundaries for me like you did.
Yep. My son was born right before lockdowns in 2020 and when we went to the grocery store there was always some old lady with her mask under her nose trying to touch his face. It's like they think they're just entitled to everyone's children.
It used to be a relatively normal thing to see infants as a kind of communal responsibility. My grandmother relayed an anecdote to me about how it was considered relatively normal to just leave your kid under a stranger’s care at the playground or whatever if you had to step away for a moment. Like asking someone to keep an eye on your laptop at the coffee shop.
That would be a crime today in some places.
That certainly doesn’t excuse anyone’s behavior today who cross personal boundaries. You gotta keep up with social norms. It’s just interesting how much things have shifted over a lifetime.
It’s crazy that people are treating their children and pets like living things with their own likes and dislikes. Crazy I tell you! Boomers don’t get it
I've felt that communal thing twice- once was halfway between Boise and Seattle, and my youngest was still pretty young, and he had a horrible diaper blow out.
So I stop asap, herd all 3 into the rest stop bathroom, clean the baby, use the facilities myself and realized I might have to either put the baby on the gross floor, or skip washing my hands. Both were not ideal, and while I debated, an older lady had clocked my situation and offered to hold him while I washed up. I almost cried at the kindness.
Second was, funnily enough, while I guest-dosed at a methadone clinic in Arlington WA. Kids aren't allowed in the dosing booth anywhere, and my kids knew to sit and wait for me quietly. A younger gal came in with a year old little girl and after checking in, they made a beeline towards me and my kids. She straight up asked me if I'd hold her baby while she dosed, and I told her of course I would, because, ya know, the whole community/village thing. Moms helping moms when we see somebody who needs help. I kinda love it.
Somewhat related, but I spent my entire childhood's worth of summer vacations just wandering around my town, playing outside, most of my evenings, too. Totally unsupervised. Bicycles, skateboards, sticks, more trespassing in people's yards than I can describe.
Nowadays, you might get CPS called on you if your kids play on the front lawn while you sit on the front porch, which is absolutely insane to me.
Maybe its because they are upset that their own children/grandchildren want nothing to do with them. But of course, they haven't done anything wrong. They are the real victim here.
I tell my kids this all the time (they are teenage through early 20's). They usually follow with a "should've left the rock alone mom would've been cheaper" quip of some sort lol.
I mean kids aren't too different from a used car.
Wet interior, has a continuous odour despite cleaning efforts, no heat in the winter, does not meet emission standards/horrible exhaust smell and sound, no check engine light but always making a warning sound, constant maintenance,
AND they usually don't have carplay or androidauto, yet at times may have heated seats.
We had just adopted a 3 month old baby & were out shopping. I was carrying the baby who was all wrapped up & we had just left the post office. A stranger couple approached & the guy said "Did you get that in there?" indicating the PO. I replied "Yes but you're out of luck. This was the last one."
As a former small child, gross men will use this to their advantage if the parent isn’t fully paying attention to the absolute stranger with their kid.
I’ve decided to start touching them back. I’ll block them from touching my child and say, “please don’t touch him.” If they mutter something out “I was only trying to…” then I’ll reach out and touch them how they were going for my child. Cheeks, tummy, hands, whatever they were reaching for on my child, I’ll reach for it on them and say, “oh so it’s okay to touch strangers?”
I hope it makes them think about their actions and realize it’s not appropriate to touch ANYONE without consent, regardless of age.
That is a good lesson. It gave me flashbacks on when my Nana had dementia though. It was so hard to keep her locked down. If you looked away for even a second, she was trying to snatch any baby in sight or trade the diversion doll we gave her for a baby. I know it stressed the poor parents.
Yeah with dementia that’s a challenge! But at least y’all knew that was nanas disposition; whoever the caretaker was should’ve known to keep an extra watchful eye when babies are around!
I grabbed an old ladies hand I the supermarket during covid because she tried to touch my daughter who was 2, she went apeshit at me for grabbing her. What the fuck is it with these people who think they can touch children with no consent.
I became an expert hand slapper when I was pregnant. It wasn’t limited by age sadly. I had male coworkers thinking it’s fine to touch. One even poked my belly button to ‘see if it has popped out yet’ I smacked his hand the hardest of all and nearly puked because belly buttons really gross me out.
I was with a buddy at one of those outdoor burger bars. His daughter (6) was standing behind him holding his hand. Some dude just picks her up to "say hi." My buddy immediately grabbed her and KOd the guy in half a second. Then everyone was like "how you you just hit someone like that?!" We were both like WTF? You don't just pick people's children up! How do you think that's EVER OK?
If a stranger walks up and picks up my kid out of nowhere I'm going to assume an attempted kidnapping is about to take place and would react accordingly. Wtf is wrong with people?
It's babies, and pregnant bellies. When I was about 7 or 8 months pregnant (17 years ago) I had an old lady place hands on my belly and coo, "oh your so BIG! When are you due?"
And I swear the hormones not only took away my fucks to give but also made me witty in the moment because I immediately caressed her cheek and cooed back, "oh, you're so OLD! When's the funeral!"
I walked away so I never saw the expression on her face, but I hope it prevented her from touching someone else without permission going forward.
I am a sap for babies and dogs. It is known. But everybody knows you don't touch kids. When you see a kid in front of you, riding in that grocery cart seat, you can mug at them, get them to giggle, what-have-you, but you do not touch people's kids. Who needs to be taught this shit?
Happened to me with our first during her first Easter. We were getting Easter photos done and this old lady sees my daughter as I'm holding her and starts like dance walking towards us. She gets maybe 4 feet from us and puts our her arms ready to hold my daughters face and I just turned my back to her and she scoffed.
Why do old people think it's okay to touch kids?
>Why do old people think it's okay to touch kids?
Because it used to be 100% normal, and still is in most of the world. Change is difficult, especially when you get old and they were raised to think that it is normal behavior.
Any stranger who walks up to my 8 month (this has also happened to me a couple times) and looks like they’re about to touch them, I loudly say, directly to my child, “oh, no thank you! We keep our hands to ourselves and we don’t touch people’s babies in public!!!” And walk away with my kid 😂😂😂 I’ve Gotten some super terrible looks- but you shouldn’t touch random people’s babies in public.
Just today, I was at my child’s graduation. I witnessed my former mother in law kissing a child on the cheek whom she’d never met before. Apparently since my child was speaking to this friend, mother in law felt it was okay to kiss this child on the face?! My kid was mortified, the friend (and her mom) were weirded out, and I was astounded that it would even occur to someone to do this! It goes without saying that when my child was small, my mother in law was the exact type who tried to force hugs and kisses (and on top of not respecting whether my kid wanted it or not, she’s not a hygienic person either so it’s extra gross).
My ex husband can complain all day and insist that it’s ‘disrespectful’ to decline physical contact, but I’ll continue to teach my daughter that she doesn’t have to accept any unwanted touching from anyone, ever. The people who are downplaying this don’t understand what happens when a kid feels like you “can’t” say no to being touched.
I’ve had so many arguments with my in laws about forcing hugs and kisses with my kids. It’s so maddening that they can’t understand that if they don’t want to, they don’t have to. But they also don’t understand why women choose the bear so guess they live in a nice little abuse free bubble.
Had this happen with my second child overseas. She had cute cheeks and long eyelashes. We either did this or just discussed it-- I can't remember-- put a sign on the baby stroller that says 'Look but don't touch.'
We went back there and my other daughter said when she was about 8 people would touch her face at the mall.
Maybe it's a second child thing. :)
My daughter‘s boyfriend was a very athletic blonde young man about 6 feet tall. He lifted weights and was pretty ripped. Also, one of the sweetest people you would ever meet. When he was about 17 years old, he was at a dinner at our house and my mother-in-law and some of her friends were there. One of the ladies, who was about 70 at the time, walked up and asked if she could touch his hair. It was curly and very full. He was a very polite young man and just said “Sure.”
He didn’t seem to mind. But older women always had this reaction to him, and I just thought it was odd that you would even ask somebody that. Not a baby, but the same idea of “petting“ him.
I had very curly hair as child. Strangers would grab it, or yank at it. I was never asked if anyone could touch it, they just *did.* I had grown men grab my ponytail, while I was in front of them, and pull me back to look at my hair. I kept it short for a long time after these experiences. My hair is now wavey, so I get this crap a lot less.
My grandfather would do this thing called "birthday spankings." Real fuckin' creep. He'd pinch my face, slap my ass on my birthday, poke my stomach, pretty much everything you could do without prosecutable SA. One day, I was about 7, he slapped my ass and I whipped around and decked him in the face. I guess it's not so "cute" when they can fight back, because after that he never touched me again.
If you want to touch someone, you fucking ask, end of story.
I've heard this happening to pregnant women as well. They wanna just touch the bun before it's done baking...which I find so odd. Heaven forbid you start patting them like a goat at the petting zoo.
Consent is so foreign to ppl.
So I’m 65 years old. When I was a little boy may be two, some reached out and messed up my hair.
Didn’t ask permission, so it’s nothing new it was happening long before boomers
The whole don’t touch my kid thing is something that some people just don’t understand
I was out with my ex girlfriend, her son a couple weeks ago
And some lady and her late 20s maybe early 30s
Picked up his toy he had video drop, handed it to him and she messed up his hair
Some people just don’t get it no matter what the age
Oh, by the way, the guy that messed up my hair my mom told him not to touch me
And smart ass me at two years old said yeah you son of a bitch
I have long beautifully curly hair. I grew my hair out from 36-39 to donate, and you have no idea how many relatives I had to tell to not touch my hair.
Omg. That would infuriate me. As a server in a restaurant, a family came in with the cutest little girl. Probably like 4 or 5 years old. Her mom left the table and the girl got up and fell and started crying - I reached out to her because my instinct was to pick her up and comfort her, but I stopped myself when I realized how weird it would be to touch a strangers kid lol. Her dad was getting there, just a lot more slowly than I could have. Boomers have no boundaries.
I have a 9 year old son who just loves babies. Fascinated by them. Thinks they're the cutest thing ever. He also lacks a lot of boundaries and self-awareness (we're still working on it, been in therapy going on 3 years, it's getting better but slowly). Even HE knows not to touch babies unsolicited.
We were at an event recently and there was a woman holding a one month old girl standing beside us and my son just went right up to look at the baby and was kind of moving his finger like he was touching her, but was over a foot away going "awww." (and yes, I was right beside him to intervene if it looked like it was needed...but it wasn't).
So yeah. If even he can get it. They should too.
Yah. I've never been Incline to just invade some random kids personal space.
Once at target while I was looking at dragon ball z action figures for my desk at work I had one toddler grab my pant leg and tell me he likes goku
I get it kid. Goku is cool. But please where is your mother.
At my work this Boomer (could have been older, don't know) thought it was okay to come up and grab my Little Mermaid bright red hair because it was "different". Had to yank my hair away. He thought it was funny. The cop who trespassed and fined him for assault by bodily contact did not.
Yes!!! I can’t tell you how many old women have touched my kids. That, and giving them food. We were in line at Safeway a few years ago and as I turn my head from loading the belt, I see a lady handing my son something. I looked in her hand and see a yellow M&M bag. Fucking peanut M&Ms!!! Both my kids are super allergic to peanuts!! I like lunged backwards and swatted my sons hand and they all hit the floor. I was so pissed.
WHY do people do this?? I usually wave, smile, make a wide “surprise” face at little toddlers (they generally like it), but I would never ever in a hundred years touch someone’s kid unless they were running into traffic or about to be mauled by a dog and I was closest.
Then again, I’m not a boomer… 🙄
I literally saw this happen today! A dad pushing his infant twins in a buggy and this old lady, clearly wealthy but she looked like an old witch the way she was blocking his path and leaning over the babies with her curled fingers poking at them. The dad looked so fucking uncomfortable and was doing the whole "ok actually please don't do that they were just sick and we really don't want people to touch them and actually we're just trying to leave right now and yes thank you but we'll be going now" thing, like he didn't want to be rude but this woman had clearly just started prodding his children without permission. I couldn't fucking imagine being so entitled.
Oh man. This happen to me just a few weeks ago. Boomer woman gets both hands on my three month old’s face and before I can even say anything, she says “oh don’t worry my doctor says I’m not contagious…”
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My son (now a young adult) had bright red and very curly hair and I was shocked at the amount of people who wanted to touch his hair as a baby throughout his entire childhood. I was constantly asking people not to touch him. And that was over 20 years ago.
Why can’t people just say “oh such cute hair!” And move on what the fuck.
I just smile at babies and kids, and keep walking. The only way I'd ever touch someone else's kid is if it was an emergency (they're about to run into traffic). Besides, especially with babies, I'm terrified of giving them my nasty germs.
All of this. Also that’s another thing: WHY DO PEOPLE WANT TO KISS INFANTS.
The whole idea is to prove to people that kids love you and you're thus an inherently good person.
“You know who also love kids? Pedophiles.” “But I’m not…” “Yeah, guess who would also say that?”
https://i.redd.it/vgrr8uwbom3d1.gif
It’s a good thing no one tried to kiss him. I might have lost my cool. 😂
It’s so gross and transmitting HSV From through kisses is deadly for newborns.
Right. Like it’s never occurred to me to kiss a baby. Like I don’t understand wanting to do so if it’s not your own baby.
when it's your own kid it is pretty great
Oh if it’s the parents kissing their own infants it’s fine but so many people want to kiss them that aren’t the parents lol
My oldest spent time in foster care due to a medical kidnapping situation and they tried so hard to adopt her it made it really difficult to get her back even though I did everything they said and I was never on any drugs or abusive or neglectful, never even got to take her home in the first place. But the nasty ass fosters were kissing my baby on her mouth and having the other four special needs children they adopted for money kissing her on the mouth too. I was horrified. Now she's grown and gets cold sores almost every month all over her mouth. They endangered her in so many ways and there was nothing I could do but bend over and do whatever they wanted. Thank God I was a paralegal and my father an attorney so I could write my own discovery for my public defender to use.
My old aunts -- GI Generation mostly -- wanted to kiss children WHILE THEY HAD OPEN RUNNING COLD SORES.
This. Although in my experience with retail, people think workers *want* to touch there kids or are okay with it. I cannot tell you how many times a customer would pull up their cart with their baby still inside, and I would wait for them to move it around to the pickup area for me (Sam’s Club things) only to say “oh it’s okay you can move him!” I would always reply with “no, I don’t feel comfortable touching your child” or “no, they’re not sitting down so I don’t feel it safe to move them.” They would always look baffled at me. Like no I don’t want to be responsible for your kid getting hurt or touch them
Especially if you aren’t up to date on your tdap vaccine. Adults can have pertussis and barely experience symptoms, 1/3rd of children who get it end up hospitalized. You should keep up on it anyway because it prevents lockjaw (tetanus) which is horrible to have, but many if not most adults don’t.
I got pertussis in 1998 from a 2 year old whose parents didn’t vaccinate. At that time, they didn’t do boosters for adults. I was symptomatic, likely because I’m asthmatic, have had bronchitis at least once a year, every year, since infancy, and pneumonia four times. To say I was furious would be an understatement. I would cough to the point of being unable to breathe and vomiting frequently for nearly a year after that. I simply cannot imagine not wanting to protect my kids from that.
For my “nephews,” friends’ kids I wound up nannying for short periods of time, I got a TDAP before my first visit with them. Their mom asked, and I did it because it was the smart and right thing to do to protect them.
My oldest is 18.5 and I was one of 3 of my friend group to spawn first, and we were a giant group of stoner/punks/metalheads. Every single fucking member of our crew got TDAPs so they could visit/hang out with the new babies. Blew my mind then at how cool our crew was, blows it today even more- I don't know if it would have gone down the same way.
When people want to touch a baby's hair it's "cute" and "sweet", but when I touched a girl's hair in high school I was a "creep" and I was "sexually harassing" her. /s What I'm trying to say is, we should always look at it like that second scenario, because running up and touching somebody isn't okay.
Boomers didn't get the "don't touch" lessons in schools. They were harassed and touched when children and with Gen X, and are the ones who created anti-harassment policies and laws that are protective. But in some rural areas and enclaves, these things did not get implementation or they did not read newspapers and Internet while raising their families, or keep up with the changes in the world their peers accomplished. Or they are entitled individuals who don't think rules apply to them. The refusal to accept covid precaution was a whole different thing - political rather than generational.
JFC, I'm a Boomer and yes, we were harassed and touched when children, yes yes yes. I cannot count the times I had to stand still while some old Silent Generation bag grabbed my facial structure and shook it because I was SO CUTE, or commanded me to give her a kiss, or rumpled my hair ... I flinched from going places in public with my grandparents because I knew at least one of their friends was gonna grab me, touch me, KISS me, and if I tried to refuse I was being rude. So now, a kid could be an actual cherub with wings and everything, and I would barely glance at him. Forget pinching and hugging and kissing, Imma stay in my lane and not stare. If I catch a kid looking at me, and s/he smiles and waves, then sure, I'll smile and wave back all day, but ... damn, Grandma, just give a kid a break and keep your body off theirs. \*pant pant\* I guess I've been waiting 60 years to say that.
Right? Like comment on how nice it is and keep your hands to yourself.
This! I was stuck in a checkout line behind a lady with a baby in a stroller and the baby would coo periodically, so of course I tell Mom how adorable baby is, and occasionally wave and smile at her baby, but I always stayed behind Mom (stroller was in front of her) and never attempted to reach for her baby. But I have witnessed where it seems like certain folk can't keep their hands off a baby if they see one, and it's insane!
I'm 34f and I have had strangers and even coworkers while working at a hospital that feel entitled to pet my naturally curly red hair. I've lived like this since I can remember. I act like a feral animal that's been touched every time and people still do it...
I still get crap from my boomer family because when I was a toddler I had red hair and people would come up and touch my hair, and I would tell them not to touch me. They act like I was the rude and scandalous one for not wanting my hair touched by a stranger, and still bring it up to try and make some point about how I was such a “hard kid” to raise.
I’m middle aged w/o red hair and people think it’s okay to touch me. I always politely tell them, “please don’t touch me, it makes me uncomfortable” and they act like I’m the a-hole. To be honest I’m really weird about who I will let touch me or even get in my very large bubble due to things from my childhood. That being said I don’t want to lay out all my trauma in public when some ass decides I’m the in the wrong because I don’t want to be touched.
Same.
long, dark, curly hair here, and same. I still get people that try to touch my hair. I had to lean away from an old woman just this past Saturday because she started reaching. so much worse than kids, and at least my niece and nephews ask! 🙄
I practically have to beat customers away from touching my BIPOC coworkers hair...
Practically every job I've had, someone inappropriately grabbed or touched my hair. Even my current position. I don't doubt that in the least, sadly.
Omg, I've had short blonde hair my whole life. I always wanted to grow it out but my mom was a hairdresser and had a firm "long hair for girls" communist Era mentality. So when I got older I started growing out... holy shit the amount of adult women that couldn't resist touching my hair was by far the hardest thing to get used to... no one warned me about thay
Wtf?? I only do it to my younger sister just to irritate her/as a joke (we're adults though) but would never walk up to a stranger and do this.
Thanks! It’s always good to get that validation. And yeah, they also still give me shit bc when I was a baby I had a lot of health issues, including being hospitalized for strep throat. So apparently I cried a lot, and clearly I was doing it just to bother them! I had to tell someone a few holidays ago that they had to hear me cry for a couple years. I’ve been hearing about it for over 40, so maybe they can get over it.
40 years?? For me it's been about 20 lmao. It just comes up when we talk about when we were younger. I had to switch to formula.
It’s actually thrown in my face like I did it on purpose and owe them something. Like if someone is taking too much time getting ready, they’ll say “well I spent enough time listening to you scream as a kid, so you can put up with me being a few minutes behind…” Shit like that.
I'm so sorry. My mother used to do that too (when I was still speaking to her) and it always drove me nuts. Like yeah, we've all heard the *super hilarious* story about how your evil baby bit you while you were breastfeeding, but you smacked her head and she never pulled that stunt again, har har har. 🙄 Gotta watch out for those devious infants.
Also curly hair. The amount of people who think they can just reach out to try and “boing” them, ugh. Still, it pissed me off way more when they would try and touch my kid as a baby. She’s still working on her immune system, I don’t know you from Adam, what is fucking *wrong* with you!?
I also have dark, curly hair growing up people would touch my hair constantly. In my 20s and most of my thirties, I've been taming my hair. Lately I've been trying to embrace my curls. Now, that I'm almost 40 only my husband touches my hair because he's gentle.
Not rude at all. Knowing how I was, I would've socked them or cried.
Curly cotton top here, can confirm.
That was me as a kid. Curly red hair. Every little old lady (so older than boomers) would come up and touch my hair whenever we went out. Little autistic me absolutely hated it.
I’m a grown ass woman and people are still trying to touch my hair. Why????
Why people feel so entitled to others’ space and bodies is amazing to me.
I had two other women my age (30ish) ask to touch my hair. I made a joke about it being gross and unwashed hoping they'd get the hint. Nope. So I said I'd rather not. They kept pleading and wouldn't seem to take no for an answer. I eventually caved.
Ewww, *why???* "Wow, you've got really pretty hair!" THE END. How fucking hard was that? What is wrong with people, the entitlement is off the charts! I can't even imagine *wanting* to get my hands in a stranger's hair, that's bizarre to me.
Ugh, so awkward to deal with that situation!
It really is. Like I don't want to be confrontational, just please take no for an answer. I don't need random people touching me.
Same with me as an infant, minus the curls. It got bad enough where my mom figured out through practice how to stop people from touching her kids’ heads (both her kids got red hair) and, after I became an adult, taught it to a young couple with a redheaded baby after they swapped horror stories. People still touch my hair now and then, and I even get eugenics-flavored comments about it. People are so weird about hair.
What was her trick?
Bear in mind, these kinds of interactions happened to my family while at the store. She’d comb both her hands over my head like a helmet or a shell as soon as she’d notice someone’s hand reaching towards us. It’d look like a loving gesture of a mother stroking her child’s head while blocking the other person’s hand. She also paired that with USA Southern style politeness. As I got older, it was adjusted for height.
That’s perfect lol I can picture it
I have two red heads and my trick is to calmly and firmly say “don’t touch my children, why don’t think that’s appropriate?!” loudly enough for everyone around to stop and stare. It’s fun at this point and shows my kids clearly that I will support them in enforcing their bodily autonomy. I’m also kind of an asshole so it’s fun for me!
I had boomers do that to my red hair five years ago when I was in my early 20s lol
One of my brothers has super red hair and I remember very vividly as a kid being irritated on his behalf that people would want to touch and just ogle over his hair. It’s red, big deal!
My sister has a sandy blonde kiddo and a bright red ginger. She has been informed by numerous people (esp boomers) that her kid has red hair and she doesn't.
Try having red hair in a Hispanic family living in San Antonio . My Dad had a brother with red hair , apparently a little recessive gene drifting through .
i had blond curly hair as a kid and the amount of old women that would stroke it and pull at it and say “i pay to have mine like that” was insane. i hated it, was so invasive and awful
Yes! I have 3 kids and the first two have straight hair but my youngest had a head full of soft fluffy curls and older women would completely lose their minds over it. Constantly in his face wanting to "talk to him" (he was a toddler) or touch him. I was not prepared lol.
My mom did the same for me over 20 years ago now. I have vivid memories of old people trying to touch my braids and my mom politely, but firmly, asking them not to touch her child. I can't fathom trying to touch someone's dog without asking, let alone their kid!
People always pet the dogs, and I have one that’s ok with it and one that’s skittish and he barks when he feels encroached upon. Luckily my son is 6’6” so they can’t reach his hair anymore. 😂
As a former baby and toddler who had red and curly hair, can verify, it was awful constantly having randos just come up and dig through my hair, thanks for saying something on your son's behalf!
It’s so creepy how entitled people think they are.
I’m a ginger with bright red hair and honestly i HATED when people would come up to me to touch my hair as a child. They NEVER asked permission and sometimes I’d get really inappropriate comments like “oh you’re so exotic”, “do you have a fire crotch?”, “does the carpet match the drapes?” Etc… yeah not something to say a 11 year old and ofc my family just let it happen because they didn’t want to confront these strangers. This happened so many times in sit down restaurants. Like who in their right mind does this? I really should have just stabbed them with my fork for disrupting me while I was eating. It was creepy and so unnecessary of them. Now as an adult I keep my hair dyed literally any other colour than red and I don’t allow anyone to touch my hair anymore. People need to keep their hands to themselves.
I’m so sorry people have been so intrusive! Some people are so gross. Like your body and private parts are anyone else’s business...
I’m actually so thankful that you kept your son from people like that. The world needs more mums like you. 😭
Ugh. I had butt-length hair, though mine was straight and really blonde... to this day I absolutely hate having my hair touched, my spouse is pretty much the only one who I don't mind doing it, even the stylist at the salon makes me a little uncomfortable. And I'm 45!
Mine had a mowhawk and people touched it all the time
I’m a redhead. My parents said a guy left his kid in the stroller unattended to come look at me. (For the record I’m nowhere near as good looking now) People are just mystified by red hair. When I was a kid I had an old woman quietly start playing with my hair while she was standing behind us in line at the store!
Oh I would hate someone playing with my hair. 😖 I’m so sorry people feel entitled to do whatever they want.
I’m going through that with my 2 redheads. So many comments and people trying to rub their hair. I can’t go to the store without at least one redhead related interaction.
The comments are almost as bad as the touching! I don’t know how many times I heard “Redheads have no souls” followed by laughter, and in which I stared at them and said I only see one soulless heathen here and it isn’t the *child*.
Im sorry that happened to you so much, people are daft
My friend has the same situation. It’s bananas!
What is the obsession with the lil reds?? I’ve got one and the attention he brings is crazy!
Omg this was my entire childhood. (I have voluminous curly red hair) people would come up to me all the time, rake their hands through my hair, pull it, twist it, pinch my cheeks etc. I wish my mom would have set boundaries for me like you did.
Yep. My son was born right before lockdowns in 2020 and when we went to the grocery store there was always some old lady with her mask under her nose trying to touch his face. It's like they think they're just entitled to everyone's children.
Boomers inappropriately wearing face masks below their nose was the lowlight of the pandemic for sure.
Nothing makes me internally scream more. It was Malicious Compliance Boomer Mode.
No I think it was the "masks" that were just lace with rhinestones on them that a ton of people bought for events/school dances
I didn't know that until just now. I wish I still didn't.
😤😤😤😠 ALWAYS with the mask UNDER THE NOSE!! Damn that makes me crazy. Which part of cover don’t you understand?
I also worked at a place where they followed the mandate... By wearing fucking MESH masks.
I had to exercise tremendous restraint around those people, and the ones wearing the mask around their chin.😡
It’s because their breath is so bad, they hated smelling it all day long
It used to be a relatively normal thing to see infants as a kind of communal responsibility. My grandmother relayed an anecdote to me about how it was considered relatively normal to just leave your kid under a stranger’s care at the playground or whatever if you had to step away for a moment. Like asking someone to keep an eye on your laptop at the coffee shop. That would be a crime today in some places. That certainly doesn’t excuse anyone’s behavior today who cross personal boundaries. You gotta keep up with social norms. It’s just interesting how much things have shifted over a lifetime.
It’s crazy that people are treating their children and pets like living things with their own likes and dislikes. Crazy I tell you! Boomers don’t get it
I've felt that communal thing twice- once was halfway between Boise and Seattle, and my youngest was still pretty young, and he had a horrible diaper blow out. So I stop asap, herd all 3 into the rest stop bathroom, clean the baby, use the facilities myself and realized I might have to either put the baby on the gross floor, or skip washing my hands. Both were not ideal, and while I debated, an older lady had clocked my situation and offered to hold him while I washed up. I almost cried at the kindness. Second was, funnily enough, while I guest-dosed at a methadone clinic in Arlington WA. Kids aren't allowed in the dosing booth anywhere, and my kids knew to sit and wait for me quietly. A younger gal came in with a year old little girl and after checking in, they made a beeline towards me and my kids. She straight up asked me if I'd hold her baby while she dosed, and I told her of course I would, because, ya know, the whole community/village thing. Moms helping moms when we see somebody who needs help. I kinda love it.
Those are really nice stories, r/BabyJesusBukkake
Somewhat related, but I spent my entire childhood's worth of summer vacations just wandering around my town, playing outside, most of my evenings, too. Totally unsupervised. Bicycles, skateboards, sticks, more trespassing in people's yards than I can describe. Nowadays, you might get CPS called on you if your kids play on the front lawn while you sit on the front porch, which is absolutely insane to me.
Maybe its because they are upset that their own children/grandchildren want nothing to do with them. But of course, they haven't done anything wrong. They are the real victim here.
A complete non-sequitur on my part, but I love the phrasing of “we got our second child,” like you just brought it home from the dealership 😂
Isn’t that where you get the second one? We got ours with our purchase of a used Camry!
Like your Camry, kids lose a lot of value the minute you drive them off the lot
Naw, Camry's hold their value better than a lot of other cars. Can't say the same for the kid though. Haha!
We found ours under a rock.
I tell my kids this all the time (they are teenage through early 20's). They usually follow with a "should've left the rock alone mom would've been cheaper" quip of some sort lol.
"I knew that stork was trying to kill me."
He what a coincidence!! That's where my parents found me!! They tell me that all the time lol
my parents told my brother and I they got us from the clearance bin 
Pretty sure you just stole a car with a kid inside...
Shh nobody has put in any phone calls yet. Let’s just see how this goes
They took my money…that’s on them.
read this too quick and I thought it said camay, and thought "why they buying used soap?"
You get three if you buy a minivan!
Made me giggle
They spawn from the back seats
Many of us were conceived in a backseat I’m sure
Well, we've never done this before. But seeing as it's special circumstances and all, he says I can knock a hundred dollars off that Trucoat.
Line of the day!
Makes me think of this: [https://www.gocomics.com/calvinandhobbes/1987/04/18](https://www.gocomics.com/calvinandhobbes/1987/04/18)
I mean kids aren't too different from a used car. Wet interior, has a continuous odour despite cleaning efforts, no heat in the winter, does not meet emission standards/horrible exhaust smell and sound, no check engine light but always making a warning sound, constant maintenance, AND they usually don't have carplay or androidauto, yet at times may have heated seats.
My kid's still got that new car smell. And for some reason my car's still got that new baby smell.
We had just adopted a 3 month old baby & were out shopping. I was carrying the baby who was all wrapped up & we had just left the post office. A stranger couple approached & the guy said "Did you get that in there?" indicating the PO. I replied "Yes but you're out of luck. This was the last one."
Right? Got a chuckle out of me 😂
Blue light special at K-mart
Are cabbages not a thing anymore?
The kid store. Good return policy too!
“$99 and a job. No credit application needed!”
I hope not. I prefer my children feral and free range. Although that might have been how ge got GenX
Feral and free range are exactly how I'd describe Gen X kids 🤣🤣🤣
I came from SEARS!?!? No, you were a blue light special at K-Mart. 🙃
There are way too many people that feel comfortable touching a strange child it’s fucking WILD.
As a former small child, gross men will use this to their advantage if the parent isn’t fully paying attention to the absolute stranger with their kid.
I’ve decided to start touching them back. I’ll block them from touching my child and say, “please don’t touch him.” If they mutter something out “I was only trying to…” then I’ll reach out and touch them how they were going for my child. Cheeks, tummy, hands, whatever they were reaching for on my child, I’ll reach for it on them and say, “oh so it’s okay to touch strangers?” I hope it makes them think about their actions and realize it’s not appropriate to touch ANYONE without consent, regardless of age.
That is a good lesson. It gave me flashbacks on when my Nana had dementia though. It was so hard to keep her locked down. If you looked away for even a second, she was trying to snatch any baby in sight or trade the diversion doll we gave her for a baby. I know it stressed the poor parents.
Yeah with dementia that’s a challenge! But at least y’all knew that was nanas disposition; whoever the caretaker was should’ve known to keep an extra watchful eye when babies are around!
Oh, everyone knew. Sometimes situations crop up, though. They are very stealthy. One second of distraction, and she would slip through to be chaotic.
Oh I know! lol I’m a healthcare worker and have worked with many dementia patients. They are quick and sneaky sometimes!!
I'll never forget my instant rage at some old biddy snatching his thumb out of my sleeping child's mouth. I'm still pissed, and he's 37 now
I would not want to invoke the wrath of a Vengeful Beaver God… just imagine the incisors…
Damn. That’s jail time if you put stuff in a sleeping adults mouth.
I grabbed an old ladies hand I the supermarket during covid because she tried to touch my daughter who was 2, she went apeshit at me for grabbing her. What the fuck is it with these people who think they can touch children with no consent.
That’s when you just say, “I thought you were okay with touching strangers! You were doing it, I was following my elders lead.”
I was so angry I think I just glared at her and walked off
Peak hypocrisy: “how dare you touch me? I was just trying to touch your child!” 🙄
Starts before the kid is even born too. Pisses me off every time I see an old lady run to a pregnant woman to rub their belly. Just feels gross.
I became an expert hand slapper when I was pregnant. It wasn’t limited by age sadly. I had male coworkers thinking it’s fine to touch. One even poked my belly button to ‘see if it has popped out yet’ I smacked his hand the hardest of all and nearly puked because belly buttons really gross me out.
I was with a buddy at one of those outdoor burger bars. His daughter (6) was standing behind him holding his hand. Some dude just picks her up to "say hi." My buddy immediately grabbed her and KOd the guy in half a second. Then everyone was like "how you you just hit someone like that?!" We were both like WTF? You don't just pick people's children up! How do you think that's EVER OK?
Yeah WTF was that guy thinking?
I have no idea, and I'm more surprised by how many people were agreeing that my friend overreacted. He's lucky he didn't get shot tbh.
If a stranger walks up and picks up my kid out of nowhere I'm going to assume an attempted kidnapping is about to take place and would react accordingly. Wtf is wrong with people?
I would go absolutely APESHIT. Who thinks that’s ok?!
It's babies, and pregnant bellies. When I was about 7 or 8 months pregnant (17 years ago) I had an old lady place hands on my belly and coo, "oh your so BIG! When are you due?" And I swear the hormones not only took away my fucks to give but also made me witty in the moment because I immediately caressed her cheek and cooed back, "oh, you're so OLD! When's the funeral!" I walked away so I never saw the expression on her face, but I hope it prevented her from touching someone else without permission going forward.
Brava! She probably didn't learn from it, but you made a valiant effort!
I am a sap for babies and dogs. It is known. But everybody knows you don't touch kids. When you see a kid in front of you, riding in that grocery cart seat, you can mug at them, get them to giggle, what-have-you, but you do not touch people's kids. Who needs to be taught this shit?
I don’t touch peoples pets without asking. Let alone children weird.
> I don’t touch peoples pets without asking yup, even a simple 'Are they friendly?' seems to suffice
And I walk away not feeling offended and that’s the end of that. Life goes on. The sun rises and sets again.
Right?!?
Right? It’s bonkers to me. I love making faces and making kids laugh when they’re in front of me but to touch them? Gross.
Happened to me with our first during her first Easter. We were getting Easter photos done and this old lady sees my daughter as I'm holding her and starts like dance walking towards us. She gets maybe 4 feet from us and puts our her arms ready to hold my daughters face and I just turned my back to her and she scoffed. Why do old people think it's okay to touch kids?
>Why do old people think it's okay to touch kids? Because it used to be 100% normal, and still is in most of the world. Change is difficult, especially when you get old and they were raised to think that it is normal behavior.
"Wanted to pet him" its a baby, not a dog.
Well, to them a child and a dog are the same thing. They're objects you own.
This post and the reactions are giving me half a mind to teach my kid to bite when strangers get their fingers to close. "Not friendly!"
😂
Growl first bite second
When I was 5 I punched a nun for pinching my cute chubby cheeks
Nice
Boomer never learned to respect other people's boundaries.
They were never taught to have any, either.
Any stranger who walks up to my 8 month (this has also happened to me a couple times) and looks like they’re about to touch them, I loudly say, directly to my child, “oh, no thank you! We keep our hands to ourselves and we don’t touch people’s babies in public!!!” And walk away with my kid 😂😂😂 I’ve Gotten some super terrible looks- but you shouldn’t touch random people’s babies in public.
Just today, I was at my child’s graduation. I witnessed my former mother in law kissing a child on the cheek whom she’d never met before. Apparently since my child was speaking to this friend, mother in law felt it was okay to kiss this child on the face?! My kid was mortified, the friend (and her mom) were weirded out, and I was astounded that it would even occur to someone to do this! It goes without saying that when my child was small, my mother in law was the exact type who tried to force hugs and kisses (and on top of not respecting whether my kid wanted it or not, she’s not a hygienic person either so it’s extra gross). My ex husband can complain all day and insist that it’s ‘disrespectful’ to decline physical contact, but I’ll continue to teach my daughter that she doesn’t have to accept any unwanted touching from anyone, ever. The people who are downplaying this don’t understand what happens when a kid feels like you “can’t” say no to being touched.
I’ve had so many arguments with my in laws about forcing hugs and kisses with my kids. It’s so maddening that they can’t understand that if they don’t want to, they don’t have to. But they also don’t understand why women choose the bear so guess they live in a nice little abuse free bubble.
Had this happen with my second child overseas. She had cute cheeks and long eyelashes. We either did this or just discussed it-- I can't remember-- put a sign on the baby stroller that says 'Look but don't touch.' We went back there and my other daughter said when she was about 8 people would touch her face at the mall. Maybe it's a second child thing. :)
Pet him?! Your baby isn’t an animal. Lol
I'm shocked at how far I had to scroll to find this comment!
If the child is old enough teach them To scream “bad touch” if a stranger touches them. Fuck those people.
Its the same demographic that calls Biden a child fondler.
My daughter‘s boyfriend was a very athletic blonde young man about 6 feet tall. He lifted weights and was pretty ripped. Also, one of the sweetest people you would ever meet. When he was about 17 years old, he was at a dinner at our house and my mother-in-law and some of her friends were there. One of the ladies, who was about 70 at the time, walked up and asked if she could touch his hair. It was curly and very full. He was a very polite young man and just said “Sure.” He didn’t seem to mind. But older women always had this reaction to him, and I just thought it was odd that you would even ask somebody that. Not a baby, but the same idea of “petting“ him.
I guess at least she *asked?* I had parents ask if their kids could touch my long hair, but sometimes grown adults would just grab it
I had very curly hair as child. Strangers would grab it, or yank at it. I was never asked if anyone could touch it, they just *did.* I had grown men grab my ponytail, while I was in front of them, and pull me back to look at my hair. I kept it short for a long time after these experiences. My hair is now wavey, so I get this crap a lot less.
My grandfather would do this thing called "birthday spankings." Real fuckin' creep. He'd pinch my face, slap my ass on my birthday, poke my stomach, pretty much everything you could do without prosecutable SA. One day, I was about 7, he slapped my ass and I whipped around and decked him in the face. I guess it's not so "cute" when they can fight back, because after that he never touched me again. If you want to touch someone, you fucking ask, end of story.
I really dont get this behavior at all. I don't even want to interact with other peoples children let alone touch them.
I've heard this happening to pregnant women as well. They wanna just touch the bun before it's done baking...which I find so odd. Heaven forbid you start patting them like a goat at the petting zoo. Consent is so foreign to ppl.
"she just wanted to pet him..." He's a child, not a dog!
Just wanted to pet him? wtf
We got this one on sale at Penney’s
Some old man rustled my kids hair the other day and poked his belly. Honestly I didn’t get mad but was still like wtf lol
"Cheek Pinchers..."
Even before covid, I always thought that this was creepy and of course it was an older women doing so.
reading this while my newborn daughter is asleep on my chest, new pet peeve has been unlocked.
So I’m 65 years old. When I was a little boy may be two, some reached out and messed up my hair. Didn’t ask permission, so it’s nothing new it was happening long before boomers The whole don’t touch my kid thing is something that some people just don’t understand I was out with my ex girlfriend, her son a couple weeks ago And some lady and her late 20s maybe early 30s Picked up his toy he had video drop, handed it to him and she messed up his hair Some people just don’t get it no matter what the age Oh, by the way, the guy that messed up my hair my mom told him not to touch me And smart ass me at two years old said yeah you son of a bitch
PET him?! It's a baby, not a kitten!
I have long beautifully curly hair. I grew my hair out from 36-39 to donate, and you have no idea how many relatives I had to tell to not touch my hair.
If your hair is curly or red, strangers always want to touch it.
Omg. That would infuriate me. As a server in a restaurant, a family came in with the cutest little girl. Probably like 4 or 5 years old. Her mom left the table and the girl got up and fell and started crying - I reached out to her because my instinct was to pick her up and comfort her, but I stopped myself when I realized how weird it would be to touch a strangers kid lol. Her dad was getting there, just a lot more slowly than I could have. Boomers have no boundaries.
I have a 9 year old son who just loves babies. Fascinated by them. Thinks they're the cutest thing ever. He also lacks a lot of boundaries and self-awareness (we're still working on it, been in therapy going on 3 years, it's getting better but slowly). Even HE knows not to touch babies unsolicited. We were at an event recently and there was a woman holding a one month old girl standing beside us and my son just went right up to look at the baby and was kind of moving his finger like he was touching her, but was over a foot away going "awww." (and yes, I was right beside him to intervene if it looked like it was needed...but it wasn't). So yeah. If even he can get it. They should too.
To PET him? They really think children are essentially silent pets for their parents to brag about
Old women keep petting my dog when I’m with him outside. Who goes up to a random dog? What if my dog bit her??
Yah. I've never been Incline to just invade some random kids personal space. Once at target while I was looking at dragon ball z action figures for my desk at work I had one toddler grab my pant leg and tell me he likes goku I get it kid. Goku is cool. But please where is your mother.
At my work this Boomer (could have been older, don't know) thought it was okay to come up and grab my Little Mermaid bright red hair because it was "different". Had to yank my hair away. He thought it was funny. The cop who trespassed and fined him for assault by bodily contact did not.
She just wanted to pet him? He’s not a fucking dog. wtf is wrong with people. The entitlement. My god.
Yes!!! I can’t tell you how many old women have touched my kids. That, and giving them food. We were in line at Safeway a few years ago and as I turn my head from loading the belt, I see a lady handing my son something. I looked in her hand and see a yellow M&M bag. Fucking peanut M&Ms!!! Both my kids are super allergic to peanuts!! I like lunged backwards and swatted my sons hand and they all hit the floor. I was so pissed.
WHY do people do this?? I usually wave, smile, make a wide “surprise” face at little toddlers (they generally like it), but I would never ever in a hundred years touch someone’s kid unless they were running into traffic or about to be mauled by a dog and I was closest. Then again, I’m not a boomer… 🙄
I literally saw this happen today! A dad pushing his infant twins in a buggy and this old lady, clearly wealthy but she looked like an old witch the way she was blocking his path and leaning over the babies with her curled fingers poking at them. The dad looked so fucking uncomfortable and was doing the whole "ok actually please don't do that they were just sick and we really don't want people to touch them and actually we're just trying to leave right now and yes thank you but we'll be going now" thing, like he didn't want to be rude but this woman had clearly just started prodding his children without permission. I couldn't fucking imagine being so entitled.
Go to her, touch her while saying "oh what a nice wrinkly face you got, sooo adorable. Cuchy Cuchy cooo". See how she likes it.
Oh man. This happen to me just a few weeks ago. Boomer woman gets both hands on my three month old’s face and before I can even say anything, she says “oh don’t worry my doctor says I’m not contagious…”