Dear Strangers,
I know when you see my cute blonde haired, blue eyed oldest son, you seem to feel compelled to talk to me. I understand that he may remind you of someone in your family or a time when your own child was young. However, this does not mean that you need to tell me all about it. This may sound callous, but I really don't care if your nephew used to have blonde hair when he was 2 but now that he's 15, it's brown. I'm sure he's a nice boy, but I don't know him; in fact, I don't even know YOU!
And please, don't EVER refer to my child as a "toehead." In the same vein, don't ask me if I was a "toehead" when I was young. I had never heard this word until recently (I'm not even sure if I'm spelling it right) and honestly, the term creeps me out a little.
Strangers, I know you are well-intentioned, but your attempts at conversation are wearing a little thin. Thanks for understanding.
Sincerely,
A Mommy who's tired of awkward exchanges with strangers
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8 comments:
Haha...Rachel, you're funny! Love this and can already relate. The worst though is when strangers think they need to touch! I freak out about that! :)
It is the same with the redheaded girl I used to watch...people just HAD to make comments when we were out!
What in the heck is a toehead?
Melissa - that's exactly what I asked the first time someone called Micah that. Upon a little research, it's actually spelled "towhead" and refers to a fair skinned person with lighter than blonde (almost white) hair. So basically one step up from an albino :)
And from someone with a redhead boy, it's a little rude for people to say, "And where did THAT come from?" As though H is some mutant or I may have had a tryst with the Schwan's delivery man.
I had to comment - it's actually 'towhead' and here's an explanation as to where that comes from:
"In colonial times, families grew their own flax to make into fabric for clothing. Transforming the flax into thread was a complicated, involved process with many time-consuming steps. After the flax was harvested, it was soaked in water for several days to soften it so the inner fibers could be removed from the stalk. To separate the long, thin fibers from the shorter, coarser ones, the flax was pulled through a bed of nails or combed in a process called "towing." The shorter fibers that were extricated were of a lesser quality and were called "tow." This led to the term "towheads" to describe people, particularly children, whose hair resembled these strands."
And for the record, people who feel the need to comment on strangers' children bother me too - happens to my sister all the time because of my insanely cute nephews.
(my answer came from Ask Yahoo, by the way)
hilarious.
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