Dear Stranger in the Mall, Grocery Store, etc.

Dear Stranger,

Please take my advice. When there is a seven month old baby sitting in a stroller in the mall elevator looking up at his mother with a very worried face and obviously looking for reassurance from his mother, do not choose this moment to coochy-coo the anxious baby. I can assure you from personal experience that the baby is not likely to smile up at you or giggle. What is much more likely to occur is a blood-curdling scream followed by several minutes of inconsolable crying. Of course by this point, you, Dear Stranger, will have more than likely already vacated the scene.

Also, Dear Stranger, when you see a four year old girl with Shirley Temple-like curls, a sunny disposition, and an angelic face, please resist the temptation to touch her hair. Shirley Temple curls are adorable; however, if this were an adult whose hair you found beautiful, ask yourself, would you reach out to stroke the hair? Why is that you think it's acceptable for you to stroke the beautiful hair of a child you don't know, but you wouldn't dare do the same if the hair was attached to an adult?

I realize that I have been blessed with three very cute children. I think this is nature's way of ensuring they'll make it to adulthood when they do things like spill milk all over the bills on the dining room table and neglect to mention it, but instead cover it up with other papers, so that when their father or I find the bills hours later they are nothing but a massive clump of illegible gobbledygook. Just because my kids are cute and fairly well behaved in public most of the time, this does not mean that you, Dear Stranger, should take this as in invitation to man-handle them. Instead, please just offer a compliment on their cuteness, behavior, or hair. I'm sure they'd appreciate it, and I know I would.

Sincerely,
The Mom Who Deals with the Fallout