bit of an odd one but people keep giving DD money in the street / on bus

[milliec]

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It used to happen to me all the time when I was little (and I certainly wasn't a particularly attractive child!). Never heard of it recently though.

Mummy and daddy DS made £40 when I took him in to my mum's work to show him off at 3 days old. The novelty soon wears off when they get older though!

It just goes to show, folk generally are complete nutters aren't they?

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I'm in the north east and there's a tradition to give a new baby a silver coin for good luck. I guess inflation means that new babies usually get a pound coin nowadays, and not the sixpence or whatever they used to get in the olden days.
I've had several old ladies (complete strangers) cooing at DS in his pram when he was a newborn, then fishing in their purses for a pound coin, touching DS's hand with the coin (for good luck), then giving the coin to me 'for the bairn'.
I always accepted graciously as it would be considered rude not to. It's quite a sweet tradition really, and I've had lots of nice chats with the old ladies concerned.

I feel all emotional reading this. How lovely.
It's ever so slightly pagan, somehow.....(or am i just sleep deprived?)
People round here wouldn't give you the steam off their piss.
Well...they would, but they'd invoice you later.
And add VAT.
Oh no.....a woman in our local shop gave DS some stale bread for the ducks, so there you go..... (was a nice gesture, though).

Quite common in Scotland. DS has been given money quite a lot. And we don't look as though we need it. (I hope!)

Older people do it more.

Yup, happened to me when DS was little (it stopped at around 3ish I think).

Mostly elderly people and usually a pound coin. I didn't have the heart to refuse it so we popped it into DS's money box when we got home.

I thought it was weird (we are from Australia and had never heard of it) until I read up on the piece of silver thing.

It made them happy to do it so why not.

We are in London.

Sorry off topic - can you edit posts?

dd gets lots of things given to her (eg last week at the supermarket, the cashier gave her a tube of smarties). She is cute and blond with big blue eyes and giggles a lot. Whilst I have never refused I don't really like it:

(a) because often ds (only 15 months older) is also there and no one thinks to offer him anything; and

(b) I'm not sure I like the message it gives dd. She does understand that she gets given things for being cute and tries to work the same trick with family and friends.

i have x3_(all 12months apart) and mine too get this reaction from the older generation. sometimes i get embarrassed.however,now that they're that bit older, i've told them to accept gracefully but ALWAYS say thankyou very much.not sure sometimes whether to let them accept it but aslong as i'm with them i don't mind.one lady-about x2 years ago-launched into a very long story about her family and how she'd lost her husband and that he'd left her a "small fortune" (funnily enough she was Scottish too).She suddenly got up,handed me a £10 note and said "Hope that covers your meal.Have a nice day".She absolutely refused to take the money back.In the end I accepted and put some of it into the charity box.

Same as eaglebird. When dd was a month old, an old lady I know was cooing over her in the pram and touched dd's hand with a 50p and pound coin, for luck, and then gave me the money to look after. I put it in her bank account. I think the 50p for luck and £1 for inflation

Agree that it is best to take it with good grace in the spirit it is offered and say a nice thank you. What you do with it is up to you - either in their piggy bank or charity box.
LOL at the bananas!
My DD1 was once given a silk hanky (unused!!) by an old lady in the local park. Never met her before. It is beautiful and all the stitching was done as a young girl by this woman. I took a photo of the lady with my baby (camera is always with me) It went in my DD?s keepsake box with a little note attached recounting the meeting with the old lady and a copy of the photo. I am getting a lump in my throat thinking about it now. Such a simple gesture of caring and generosity; she really touched me and I will make sure DD sees the bigger meaning of it when she is older.

I figured I must have dropped a coin in the pram the first time it happened (and felt guilty in an uber pfb psychomummy way that newborn ds would somehow choke on it ). When it happened again I mentioned it to a friend and she told me about the silver for luck thing.

I was also handed money "for the bairn" a few times but he didn't make much. Apparently the East End of Glasgow is the place to parade your baby to make the real cash according to them in the know.

It hasn't happened since he was quite tiny though.

Enjoy the admiration while she's young and cute enough for it to last! One aspect of being a foreigner I'm going to miss is not being stopped constantly by a crowd of people telling me my baby is fei chang fei chang ke ai (very very cute). Caucasian babies are vanishingly rare here and everyone who sees her wants to stop and coo over her. We always draw a crowd but about a fortnight ago it got warm enough to take her out with bare legs and now it's gone up a level - everyone wants to touch her snow-white toes It took me an hour today to walk a block and a half and back.

I suppose it's good we'll be leaving before DD is old enough to remember it, or she'd get a gigantic head and go through life thinking she's Angelina Jolie's better-looking sister.

No money though, but I don't think any mum can be told by too many people that her child is extremely cute.