Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

...to want to hug someone else's child....

29 replies

Punkatheart · 10/01/2013 13:44

...I have no idea if this boy had parents...or what he situation was..but he was standing at a bus stop, with lots of other folk. He had the saddest face I have ever seen. It wasn't a 'today is a bad day' sort of a face.....but a face that despite his obvious youth (he was in uniform) was old before its time. He looked completely and utterly lost - just staring up at the sky. Very tragic eyes.

Of course I wouldn't hug him - that would be blatantly very weird. But the urge I had - the mothering urge - was so very strong. I wanted to give him a cup of tea and a meal. He was so very thin too, pulling down his sleeves the way young girls usually do.

All the lost people. Sometimes I wish I could gather them up and hug them all until they stopped looking so lost.

I am mad as a dizzy whippet, am I not?

OP posts:
JaneFonda · 10/01/2013 13:47

Oh this is so lovely - I often feel the same way about little ones as well. :(

BettySwollocksandaCrustyRack · 10/01/2013 13:48

You are sweet but yes, you would be wierd if you hugged him.

My DS (a sensitive soul) often goes off looking like he has the weight of the world on his shoulders....anything could be a tragedy to him such as me banning the x box, making him eat a pea, going to bed early etc etc. He is also a tiny dot but honestly, he has a lovely happy life.

Hopefully this boy is the same hey :)

valiumredhead · 10/01/2013 13:48

You are not mad Sad

landofsoapandglory · 10/01/2013 13:49

No you're not mad, you sound lovely and very compassionate.

Poor boy, I hope he is okay.Sad

FunnysInLaJardin · 10/01/2013 13:49

I feel the same way and do have a strong mothering instinct even for children who are not nec 'lost'. I would never act on it though as it would as you say be very odd Grin

realcoalfire · 10/01/2013 13:50

I think you should write a novel, you have a wonderful turn of phrase.But he was just probably thinking about a test he hadn't revised for or something.

valiumredhead · 10/01/2013 13:50

I agree with betty though, I caught ds looking so folorn the other day and my heart nearly broke for him, I asked him what was up and he said "I was just trying to work out in my head the next thing I am going to build on Minecraft."

Hmm
BumpingFuglies · 10/01/2013 13:50

You are not mad, I feel this way too sometimes. I saw an old man whose expression made me run back to my car and sob for ages. Sometimes people's faces tell a whole story.

KenLeeeeeee · 10/01/2013 13:51

Not mad. I feel the same whenever I see anyone, young or old, looking sad.

BettySwollocksandaCrustyRack · 10/01/2013 13:51

Valium - god, if I banned DS from Minecraft he would definately look traumatised and sad :)

valiumredhead · 10/01/2013 13:53

betty my ds would ring Childline and I am only half joking!

HecatePropolos · 10/01/2013 13:53

Oh, I get this all the time. Just want to 'save' people. Sometimes people look like they just need someone, anyone to give a damn.

OTOH. He could have just been lost in thought and have one of those faces Grin I, apparently, always look cross Hmm I've lost count of the number of times I've been asked what's the matter.

Sparklingbrook · 10/01/2013 13:55

Yes, I get this. More with old people though.

Alibabaandthe40nappies · 10/01/2013 13:55

Oh I often think this about random children that I see. I hope that little chap was looking forlorn unnecessarily.

Sugarice · 10/01/2013 13:56

Oh I feel a little concerned now wondering about this boy, hope he's alright. Sad

BettySwollocksandaCrustyRack · 10/01/2013 13:56

Apparently I have a sad face too.....I have lost count of the number of times people have said "cheer up love" - it really pisses me off!

valiumredhead · 10/01/2013 13:57

I have suddenly become over concerned with the elderly too sparkling

MrsDeVere · 10/01/2013 14:03

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

BettySwollocksandaCrustyRack · 10/01/2013 14:08

Nothing tugs at my heartstrings more than an old person who looks lonely......makes me :(

Sparklingbrook · 10/01/2013 14:59

It's when I see little old men doing their shopping in Morrisons. One old man stopped me and asked which tissues to get his wife, as she was in hospital, so we perused the tissue aisle. Sad

valiumredhead · 10/01/2013 15:25

Oh no Sad it's the lonely basket with one Fray Bentos pie in it that makes me want to weep

Original poster
Punkatheart · 10/01/2013 15:37

What lovely hearts you all have.

But also thanks for the different perspective. Some people just look sad. Friends have said that I have an overconfident sometimes stroppy face - so no one ever asks me if I am OK. I have cried in a supermarket too - but people still didn't get the hint!

Oh dear that one pie in a basket....it is indeed very sad. I put all my eggs in one bastard - that's the issue in my life!

It make sound trite but sometimes I smile at people who look sad, or just make a weather/jolly comment.

OP posts:
AreYouADurtBirdOrALadyBird · 10/01/2013 15:39

Dd has a very melancholy face. But she's not sad,she just always looks it.

BettySwollocksandaCrustyRack · 10/01/2013 15:40

I had a lady stop me once in the supermarket, open her purse to me, give me her card and ask me how she could get some money........can you imagine if she had asked the wrong person?? Bless her, she had a big yellow stain on her skirt and just looked like she shoudn't be out on her own. I just wanted to take her home! She seemed happy enough though.

God, just the thought of my mum being like this......(well, she has passed away so she can't) but you know what I mean....heartbreaking.

Peanutbutterfingers · 10/01/2013 16:28

The saddest thing I ever saw was a boy about 9, on his own in a supermarket buying lots of packets of 9p noodles, the cheapest beans and bread. No sweets or treats or chocolates. I cannot bear to think about what was going on that he was doing that kind of shop himself. He again looked just sad and lost and LITTLE.

It was before I had a child and I think of him often. If it happened now I'd be marching him round the supermarket filling a basket with goodies to take home. I someone else had the sense to help him. I still feel I let him down.