AIBU to not be devastated that my DS has red hair

[EvenFlo]

I have a beautiful, healthy 7 week old son who is smiley and basically gorgeous (biased of course).

But shock horror he has a mass of red hair!!

The response I am getting to this from some people is utterly ridiculous - 'oh don't worry it will change', 'oh I am sure it will go blonde', 'oh he is lovely regardless'. This is usually accompanied by slightly sympathetic head tilts.

WTAF - he has hair that might be red (or dare I say ginger) - he doesn't have a bloody life threatening illness or contagious disease. It's just hair!

Does anyone have any suggestions for suitably cutting responses to these comments. It maybe I have it wrong - maybe having red hair is far more terrible than I am realising.

Rant over.

"Don't be a dick"?

I am entranced by red-headed babies.

In my book it's like winning a very big prize.

Red hair is absolutely beautiful. Be proud and tell the nay-sayers to fuck off

Yanbu - I have a wee ginge' and he's the loveliest thing in the WHOLE world. Fact.

I'd ask straight out: 'do you think there's something wrong with having red hair?' Put the fuckers on the spot. Tell them your bloody hurt by their comments.

My 4 month old DD has red hair. Came as a complete surprise as no one in the family has it. I ADORE it!!! It's just beautiful and I pray that it doesn't change colour.

Ignore what everyone says. Be proud of your son (I'm sure you already are!) and show off his hair with pride!!

Just don't dress him in yellow. As I found out with my DD - red hair and a yellow dress is not a good look :-)

Red hair is beautiful, as is any colour of hair at all on a little baby! Even my baldy DD is gorgeous, don't understand how anyone can look at a baby and pick fault with their appearance.

I don't have any cutting responses, would probably just say I love him the way he is thanks... and piss off

I have a now grown-up ginger and had the same experience as you. I could get on a rant about the bullying and discrimination he has to put up with. It starts on day one and never ends.

My DS has red hair, as does his uncle and both his grandmas. I can honestly say other than asking me where he gets his colouring from (DD, DH and Me are all dark haired) no one has ever mentioned it. I find it very odd that people would, its just hair.

Red hair is great and increasingly uncommon- I always wanted it. My 2 ginger siblings are much more attractive than their brunette sister (me) but unfortunately they have had the odd comment and name calling over the years (mostly affectionate). It seems to be one of those things that people think it's OK to pass remarks about when it really isn't. Don't have any clever put downs other than telling them where to get off. I'm sure your DS is gorgeous.

I got this with dd, our dc2, was a shock as neither dh or I have red hair although both our fathers did.

I found a pointed, yeah, just like the milkman! helped in my situation, but you could equally reply yes, it is gorgeous, I can see you are as jealous as me!

It's also quite popular just now it be ginger- Damien Lewis, Karen Gillan, and Game of Thrones talks of being kissed by fire and how red hair is considered lucky.

I fucking hate this. I'm a red head, 3 of my kids are. They are beautiful.

Would people be saying that about any other physical aspect of a new baby? Why is it alright to have a prejudice against red heads.

My son has gorgeous red curly hair and I wouldn't have it any other way. Red hair is beautiful. I call him my gingey bear [ grin]

And fwiw I've never had anything but compliments about my hair.

Ask them if they'd make the same comment about black skin. Fuckers. How bloody dare they. Ginger babies are beautiful.

My DH has fabulous red hair and I would have loved our girls to be gingers. Alas the best I can hope for is a strawberry blonde as DD2 doesn't have any hair yet.

Well clearly you were very irresponsible for not having your anti-ginger jabs.

Personally I love red hair on men. Am rather fixated by Greys Anatomy's Dr Hunt. I was hoping DS would have red hair as DH and I both have dark auburn hair.

The old 'Did you mean to be so rude?' Comment should suffice. Red hair is lovely!

My DS2 has red hair, it's dark auburn now - but was bright red as a baby. It's gorgeous and like another poster has said, a complete surprise as we have no red hair in the family. I'm very jealous of it, it's really thick, glossy and wavy!

YANBU - I cannot believe people are still so rude and prejudiced about red hair. Red hair is beautiful - if people said that to me I would say 'Actually I like red hair and I hope it doesn't change' or as others have said 'did you mean to be so rude?'

Kissed by fire? Oh I love that! He has a fiery temperament too so that's just a perfect description of him.

I did ask 1 person if ginger hair was a problem, her face quickly became redder than DS's hair as she tried to backtrack. Knobber.

I dyed my hair from a young age just to be a redhead. Hoping husbands ginger beard gene will pass on to rugrats too!

I have a ginger DC and they have had far more compliments about their striking hair than ever any teasing or negativity. It's stunning and beautiful! And my DN gets stacks of modelling work because of his red hair!

As parents we can set the tone for how our children think about things by how we behave, so make sure you are relentlessly positive and get in first with 'and look at his gorgeous red hair' before anyone can even open their mouths and express an ounce of negativity around him.

Just say "Why would I want it to go blonde? I hope it stays exactly how it is thank you very much!"

My Mum has red hair and DH and I both hoped our DDs would inherit it....we thought DD2 had but it was slight....we used to hold her up to the light to make it look redder "It looks a bit more today don't you think?" They're both reddish brown but there's a hint of red and we nurture and pet that hint!