stranger giving my child money

How bizarre that your child has reached 3 without getting given anything from a stranger. Totally normal. I can barely get to the shops without DS getting something random. The man who runs the drugs accessories shop gave him a mini twix the other day (we're not in the UK). Do you go out much? Cos it's also pretty bizarre that your child doesn't recognise what money is!

I would say he was being kind. My children have been given money from strangers too after speaking to them, usually elderly people. I was in the shop with my 5 year old last year, another customer thought she was so cute he asked me if he could buy her a packet of sweets. lol

So its a south, midlands, north, Irish, Welsh, Scottish, mediteranean, catholic, pub, old people, young people tradition.

Nah - it's a pub thing!

Every time i take DS to the pub someone comes over and presses money into his hand. The only thing that bothers me is he's 8mo and puts it in his mouth. I have tried to intervene and take it, but apparently it's lucky to put it in the child's palm - erm not very lucky if they choke on it

Definitely a northern thing

My baby book has a reference to me being "given silver" when I went for my first outing.

And I remember being given the odd pound or fifty pence from older people when I was a child.

My son made about £30 the first time we took him out in his pram! A mixture of it being pension day, a sunny Scottish day (rare!) and him being teeny (5lbs). He still gets a penny (£1) from the old lady he chats to on the way to nursery. Old people love little kids, and like to treat them. In their day, a penny for sweets was a much bigger treat than it is now.

I think the man was just being nice. I would however have been worried if he had given it to the child without an adult around but that isn't the case here so no I wouldn't be worried.

Why is this weird?

Old people have given our DC coins before to 'buy sweets' or they say 'don't spend it all at once!' We've tried to tell them no but they force it and say 'it's for the kiddies!'. Also when I was a kid I remember oldies doing the exact same thing or even just giving me sweets.

So what? They weren't budding paedophiles, just kind people doing a nice thing for small children. This photographer was the exact same. God, what sort of a world has the media turned this world into? YABVVVU.

never happened to my kids. they must all be tight in north essex.

Can I add an Arabic thing too?

My friends were at the mall with their daughter who was about 11 months old at the time, and she was really taken with a hat that had Dora on it. Her parents went to pay for the things they'd bought (typical just-setting-up-home-in-a-new-country type mothercare stuff) and a local man with his little girl who was a similar age, queued up behind them with 2 Dora hats, paid for them, and put one on my friends daughter's head and said that she had the most beautiful smile in the world. And walked off with a matching hat on his daughter's head.

Same little girl, another day, when she was about 3. An older local gentleman, probably late 60s/early 70s, came over to our table when we were eating lunch and gave her a pink flower and 10 US Dollars. He then left the restaurant without saying a word.

Perhaps you should talk to your son about being uncommonly chatty to strangers? This would worry me more

My daughter was given a pound by a stranger as we were leaving the hospital when she was a newborn.

When my boys were little I was very strict about food. Occasionally, as a huge treat, I would take them to the corner shop and they would choose 5p worth of penny sweets. They were delighted with this.

... After a while we stopped going there, because the shop lady clearly felt sorry for them and kept giving them 20p! :-o and telling them to buy some more.

Even after we'd stopped going to the shop, sometimes she would see us walking past and would come out and try and give the kids money!

Old people just like doing that I think. When I was a kid old people would press a coin into our hands and tell us to buy some sweets with it. There isn't necessarily a nefarious motive behind it.

The other day, an elderly chap starting talking to me and DD in a supermarket and then looked a bit nervous and said 'Oh, I shouldn't really speak to children should I? You can get trouble for it nowadays.' Kind of sad he should feel that way really.

I've had this too. Dd1 chatting away in the bus to an old lady and given 50p " to buy some sweets"

People just like chatty friendly children . Please dont think anything sinister it was honestly someone just being nice,

It's clearly a traditional thing that lots of people, north south catholic mediterranean london wales old young, do like saying "bless you" when someone sneezes. Quite sweet really, and not at all weird.

My Dad loved giving kids money. Last time he did it , it was a tenner to a baby. I think the photographer was being really mean, show him this and tell him not to be so tight this time. Do you think he was grooming your child in front of you?

It is wierd thing for a professional photographer to do while they are working. Imagine if they did that with every well behaved child. They would soon go broke. Or maybe not.

Also an act of kindness, but wierd all the same.

One of my small children was given money once on a bus in England. Also to buy sweeties. I had the feeling the person who gave it to us wanted us to like her. She was a complete stranger and we never saw her agian.

Another here who thinks it perfectly innocent.

orry to hear about your hock re Uni friend - I understand why your guard is up

I've felt the urge sometimes... You know when you see some kids behaving beautifully and being just so darn cute! I once gave a tenner to a mum on the train as I got off to get some icecream for her four kids. They sat throughout a whole journey being so happy, friendly, polite and never bickering! They looked like such a lovely bunch.

Not weird at all. Many older people believe the whole 'cross a babies palm with silver' to mean it will bring good luck.

My elderly (N Irish) neighbour has recently crossed my new baby's palm with silver for luck.

It's sad that we live in a world where we do have to feel cautious about strangers interracting with our children, although th risks are no greater than they ever were, and the greater risk is from well known adults.

Op, I would just reinforce to your child that "it was ok to ake the gift because mummy was with you, but must never accept anything on his own"

Not weird at all, but if you don't like it then put the money in a charity collection and then you've made it a more positive thing.