Amazingly tactless things complete strangers say...

[HollyBollyBooBoo]

Whilst pregnant

New potential supplier in meeting at work infront of 5 of my team: '...have you put on much weight? You look asthough you have or were you always that big?'
I'm a size 14 and put on 10lbs during entire pregnancy, needless to say the b!tch didn't get the contract.

With new baby (for info DD has a small birthmark on her right hand)

Old man in supermarket: '...what's that on her hand? Did she burn herself on the stove?'
Me: 'Yes I always let my 8 week old play on the hot stove, gotta start 'em young'

Woman doing a food demo in a up-market foodie place: 'Ah lovely baby. Is she hungry?
Me: No, no she's just had 10oz for her lunch!'
Woman: 'Look she's so hungry she's sucked her hand red raw!'
Me: 'No it's a birthmark' (turn on heel and walk off in disgust)

Feeding 5 week old DD a bottle of formula in TK Maxx to prevent her crying her eyes out.
Old man approaches; 'Is that breast milk?'
Me: 'No, formula'
Old man: 'My wife had 5 children and breastfed each one of them for the first year of their lives, so much better for them and cheaper than that stuff'
Me: Cry my eyes out for failing to suceed at breastfeeding despite trying and having counselling.

DD had crying fit for no apparent reason and had eventually calmed down but was bright red and always goes blotchy.
Random old woman in supermarket: 'Is she sunburnt? You really must cover them up at this age for goodness sake.'
Me: Too dumbfounded to even speak to made goldfish impressions with my mouth for a minute until DH came back with the ketchup.

Do I attract the nutjobs out there or what?! Had no idea my DD would be such public property!

Oh Lola88 just seen your post. That woman was probably my MW.

xMinerva us 'young' mums eh danger to children everywhere

I think I have quite a good one for this...

I was a size 6-8 pre-pregnancy... I only gained 16lbs and that was literally all bump. My bump was tiny and measured 33 weeks at 39 weeks. All of this coupled with the bad weather and my needing to wear a coat meant that not many people saw my bump.

Now when I walk my dogs on the park with my DD in her pram (she's 9 weeks old) I keep being asked by people that I regularly see on the park if the baby is mine. My answer of 'yes' has been met by 'When did you adopt her?' several times now.

Wonderful.

Not read all the thread but my beautiful dd had a big strawberry birth ark n her head. I was quite adept at fielding comments but one old 'dear' said ' ooh, what a shame, you just expect them to be perfect'

And breathe....

My daughter has a strawberry birthmark on her forehead, and people ask so often what she's done or say 'oh what a nasty bump' that she now, aged 2.5, says 'no it's my birthmark'. The most annoying thing is when people are then really pitying/consoling- 'never mind, it'll fade'/'oh well she can have a fringe'/ 'ah never mind, she's still beautiful'. I want to shout a) she can hear and understand you, you know! and b) did I say I was bothered about it?!?!

Oh medusa, that's bad. Someone once said to me 'oh but she's a GiRL! Can't you get it zapped?' grrr.

I recently had to take a course of medicine that would mean I couldn't BF DS for 3 days, was quite worried that my milk would dry up as I can't express. The doctor asked me how old DS was, and when I said he was 10 months she laughed and said breast milk has no nutritional value after 6 months and I was only still feeding him for my own psychological benefit

Makes me sad to think that this same advice could be given to someone who would believe it. As it happens, DS decided he liked bottles better and only fed for another two weeks after

"Oh, he's got your nose.... in a good way, though!"

We were out with DD2 when she was a few weeks old and bumped into an old chap who DP knows vaguely. His wife, who was with him, asked me if I was breastfeeding ie almost the first thing she said to me. I said no so she called me a "naughty mummy." I went home and cried.

My friend's husband is from Kurdistan, so their son has quite dark skin whereas she is very pale.

Every summer she gets aggressively berated by variuos people for putting fake tan on her son.

She laughs it off but I think secretly it gets her down.

The morning after DD arrived I posted on FB so family and friends all over the world would know she was finally here and one male 'friend' commented 'that's another totally ruined vagina then!'

Charming!

DD has a strawberry birthmark on her face and I've had so so many comments asking if she'd burned herself. Now that DD is 15 months and toddling around the park on her own, she often gets groups of older kids surrounding her saying 'eww, what's that? Disgusting!' at her. Which I find totally heartbreaking, especially as DD doesn't really know what's going on so she just stands there smiling at them. Soon she's going to understand and I'm not sure what to do when that happens!

By the way, my hat goes off to parents of children with much bugger difficulties than DD. You guys ROCK.

Bugger??? BIGGER, if you don't mind, IPhone.

A mad québécois woman told me to stop, wait for it, in 35o heat while swimming in a LAKE, to stop pouring water on DS2s head (I did it all of twice), because he was "bored" of it. DH just laughed at her, but she had some choice words from me.

I've mostly not had anything really bad but I did get a comment from an old chap in a shop once when I was out with DS, aged about 6m. I was quite happy keeping him in his babygrows at that point, but the old chap said "oo look at you, out in your pyjamas!" And at that point I realised that yes, it did look like that and I should probably start dressing him "properly"

Lots of asking if DS was a girl because he had big blue eyes with long eyelashes; my sister had the opposite with DD1 because her hair didn't grow, so even though she was head to toe in pink/lilac and usually in a skirt of some kind, people would still only focus on the hair and assume she was a boy. Right up until she was nearly 3!!

When I was pregnant with ds1, a woman asked me if I was having twins, I said no, she said are you sure, I said as sure as we can be, the scan showed 1 baby. She asked if I had a picture and if she could see it just to make sure

I had a old lady tell me that I shouldn't take my baby to the supermarket if he was going to cry (he was about 6/7 weeks I think) and that I should keep him at home until he settles and is able to be out and be quiet. To which I yelled really loudly "Well I'm here because I have to FUCKING EAT"

Minerva I had that with the MW too. When I registered when I was pregnant with ds2.
Ds1 must have been about 8/9 months old and dp came with me to the appointment and the mw said "I assume this is a different dad"
Seriously? Why would she assume that?

When pregnant I worked in an after school club so obviously when my bump started showing the parents Anne children noticed and became interested, one day a child approached me to day that her mum says it was tricks that a 'girl like me' should be working with children as I was unmarried and pregnant

When ds was born there was a heat wave so ds would lie in his pram with shorts, tshirt and no socks.with blankets at the side just incase, e were in asda and an old lady just started pulling at the blankets because he must be freezing! Then he woke up screaming

Ds had eczema.on his face which became infected as he would claw through the night, one day I was told o should be more careful as hot drinks are the most common cause of scalding and had I been to a and e?!

At a mother and baby group was asked how old ds was, I replied 11 months lady introduced us to get grandson and asked of we lived nearby. I told her the street and she replied 'oh my daughter applied for one of those but didn't get, I suppose they need to put vulnetable teens first nowadays right enough' with a snide smile... I was 20 and had been with my dp for 6 years!!

Interesting to hear that so many people get comments about birthmarks.

Due to various fuck ups during delivery, DS has been left with quite a large scar in the middle of his forehead and also on the back of his neck.

If i had a pound for the number of health 'professionals' who have said "oh well, at least he's a boy'......

Actually, I don't need a pound for each comment, I'd rather have a blunt instrument to wield instead.

Woman at baby group recently: Why don't you have your baby girl's ears pierced?
Me: why would I want to do that? [see how I politely avoided rant about inability to consent etc?]
Her: So your baby will become pretty!
Pause.
Are you saying my baby isn't pretty?

Patronising smile... At least every other mum then fell over to tell me how gorgeous dd is!
bet she's just jealous my baby is much lovelier than hers...

good grief, how does shoving a piece of metal through your baby's ears make her pretty??? (I'm quite sure she's lovely anyway)

I got loads with DS2 as he had an NG tube for nearly a year. Choice comments were made such as

"that poor baby, he shouldn't be out"
"is he special"
"oh, is he dying?"

I was too shocked to reply a lot of the time!!

There were also a lot of badly hidden whispers wherever we went anywhere (what's wrong with that baby, don't go too close.....) - I snapped at one pair of mums in soft play once, felt very good to see their embarrassed faces!

dd has some facial scarring after being attacked by a dog.

From a peadiatrician in front of dd (7) "Ohh - what are those marks on her face?" You have her medical records - read them!

From family "It's a shame it wasn't [ds] that was bitten, it matters so much less for boys".

My best friend's husband can be a real dickhead sometimes, and he saw fit to point out, rather loudly with disgust, at his own son's first birthday party, that 'Urrrgh', 4-month-old DS has quite large birthmarks (or, as he said, 'red fings') on the back of his head (this was when DS had lost his 'birth' hair and was a little baldie for a while - it's now growing back rather nicely at a year old). I should have replied along the lines of, yes there are, and his hair will soon cover them - however, you will always be a fat cunt and no amount of body/facial hair will ever cover that up (or something slightly wittier) but I don't like sinking to his level and I suspect I might be a teeny tiny bit overprotective/PFB about DS!

On a happier note though, DH took DS (who was in a particularly talkative mood) to the supermarket yesterday and at the checkouts the lady was bowled over with him. She laughed and said 'Daddy certainly knows he's got you' as he was just baa-baaing, daa-daa-ing and blowing raspberries :)

My mil said it was my fault 4 week old DD was crying so much and if I didn't learn to be less tense she wouldn't get better.

Coming from the most tense person I have ever met who just sat in my house reading a fucking kindle asking what was for dinner every night for a week. I was so angry I couldnt speak.

And it was because DD had reflux but we didn't know at the time.