to think that people should believe that my daughter genuinely IS a girl when I tell them that she is?

[cryhavoc]

Took DD(2.4) into town this morning. Had a pleasamt potter around, went to the park for a while, then stopped at the chip shop to get some lunch. (Treat for us both - she had been - save for a small Peppa Pig related incident - very good, and I have been to the gym five times this week. So a portion of chips to share.)

No one else is in the chip shop. I sit DD on the counter and order the food, and the Greek owner offers her a chip. She says, 'Yes please,' takes it and says 'Thank you.' Pleased and a bit surprised by her impeccable manners I say, 'Good girl.'.
Old man is surprised.
'But he's a boy!'
'No,' I insist, 'She's a girl.'
He looks incredulous, gestures at her (admittedly paltry) hair, 'So why have you cut off her hair to make her look like a boy?'
I try to explain that I haven't cut it, it just hasn't grown yet, he won't have any of it and tells me I am very mean for cutting all her lovely hair off when I have long hair myself.
'What's her name then?' he asks.
Now, DD has a Welsh name, that does sound a little like Theo. So when I tell him what she is called he shouts, 'Ha!' triumphantly. 'Theo! Boys name! He is a boy!'

At this point we say thank you, wave bye bye and leave.

Now maybe her hair has been quite slow to grow (I get really jealous of her friends with longer hair.) and today she was dressed in denim dungarees that could be seen as a bit neutral, but is it unreasonable of me to expect him to believe me when I said that she is, actually, a GIRL?

There are pictures on my profile, so please feel free to tell me if you think she looks like a boy too.

But to be honest, the chips were so delicious that I don't really begrudge him his opinion...

Yeah, she does look like a boy.

But she's 2, does it matter?

I don't mind if she DOES look like a boy...I just think that people should believe me if I say she is a girl.

Oh cry - she is absolutely beautiful and looks to me like a girl (and a lovely one at that) ignore him and I am sure she shall have a delightful head of hair in no time

She does look a bit like a boy (a beautiful boy though) put hair slides, masses of pink on her if it worries you

Our dd has been head to toe in pink or even in a dress and we've had isn't he lovely type comments. Some people just speak before their brain is in gear. His was obviously very slow! Language barrier maybe?

I think she looks like a girl.

The man sounds a bit strange, tbh.

With most children up til about the age of 5, their hair and clothes is the only indication of gender.

It is a bit weird that the chip shop man thought you were lying about her though.

I think he's good naturely pulling your & DD's legs

My DD's (2.5) hair reaches halfway down her back when wet but as its curly it's shortish ringlets. She can be wearing a dress, or pink and people still call her a boy - I've come to the conclusion that it's just what some people do. She doesn't look at all like a boy at all.

I have a friend who calls ALL unborn babies he - whereas if I were to do the same I'd go with she.

Keep a sense of humour about it!

Could it have been a bit of banter that didn't translate very well?

He's hardly going to seriously argue with a childs mum and insinuate you had made a mistake over the sex of your DC

Agree with Mrs, if the chips were good, I wouldn't worry about it.

actually do i know you under a different MN name? i do dont i, in which case in the flesh she looked girly but have you not realised yet that the general public believe mums no nothing about kids and will either redicule you or over masses of unsolicted advice

She does not look like a boy. That cute little pixie face! and she looks pretty with short hair.

Don't worry, we get this too occasionally. Weirdly enough it happened once when DD was wearing a dress.

After I said she was a girl, I was asked "are you sure? Good grief. Yes! last I checked. I chalk it up to people needing their eyes checked and having silly expectations of what a girl should look like and be dressed like.

Just ignore them. It doesn't matter anyway.

offer

She's lovely.

People thought my DS was a girl for the first three years of his life

Some people can't get over the fact that little girls aren't always in frilly pink dresses and ribbons, and little boys aren't always shorn headed and wearing a Thomas tee-shirt.

She'll soon be old enough to say 'Oi, I'm a girl! get over it!'

You are overthinking it.

Don't worry about random old people comments.

My ds gets called 'her/she' all the time,its coz he's purdy .

Everyone thought my sister, who has a uni-sex nickname, was a boy until she was about 2, because her hair was short. She is now the girliest princessy pink-wearing Jane-Austen-obsessed woman you ever met. Don't worry about it.

She is beautiful, and like a girl - I too had the lack of hair problem with DD and had people saying she looked like a boy - but also because I didn't dress her in pink!
Seriously - take no notice. And if people are silly enough to think that you would lie about your child's gender then more fool them!

Of course he should believe you-but you´re only the one who gave birth-what would you know?

I have to say that in the pic with the green t-shirt she looks spookily like my son & in the other two spookily like my daughter!

Yes, littleducks, you do.

He made me laugh, to be honest. I'm not sure if it was banter - he seemed genuinely puzzled about it.

The chips were VERY good, so all is forgiven.

mmmmmm chips

she is cute
she looks like a girl, but i suppose with neutral clothes it could go either way
i found the chip shop story quite funny though, wouldnt get upset about it just have a laugh and forget about it

it is quite funny.

in the photos, the top one she looks like a girl and the others she could be either.

i looked very much like a boy until i wsa about 5, so...

she's very pretty, btw.

She looks like a girl in non-gender-stereotyped clothing to me. She's lovely. Old man is weird but it takes all kinds eh?

My DS once got mistaken for a girl because he had a pink/red tommee tippee cup...despite the fact that he looks very boyish and was dressed in blue at the time. When I told the lady he was a boy she said she thought he looked like a boy but didn't like to say that because he was holding a pink cup .

I concluded that some people are very odd!

Your DD is gorgeous and does indeed look like a girl!

I think people do respond more to what kids of this age are wearing etc because the differences are often less obvious at that age.

She would pass for either.

If the chips were good, don;t worry about it - maybe your leg was being pulled as other posters have suggested.

My dd1 is 11 and has long hair but often gets mistaken for a boy because she wears a baseball cap and boy's clothes.

She gets over it!