handling awkward toddler comments in public?

[Greenwife]

At a farmers market today we passed a woman with a birthmark on her face. Two year old DD pointed and said "Uh-oh".

DH was with DD and I was up ahead. They caught up to me and DH told me what she had said. He was in the process of picking her up to put her on his shoulders and continued with it saying something like "up we go". So he didn't apologize, not sure if he made eye contact with the woman.

What is the appropriate way to handle this type of situation?

[Pyrodjm]

We usually play it off like your DH did. I pretend my child is talking about something else, play dumb or distract them. Dropping something usually works to distract everyone. DD1 was about to repeat an embarrassing observation about a lady walking toward us in a store. I dropped my wallet, ask DD to grab it and then quickly asked her to get something off of a shelf. DD lost her train of thought, The lady passed, I never had to even make eye contact with her and once we reached the car I explained to DD why we don't talk about the parts of people's body not covered by clothing, even if they should be.

[Nanner99]

Distraction is good. But if it is really obvious, I just explain out loud to said toddler. My oldest was the worst! She talked A LOT about a guy who sat behind us at an event who was covered in tattoos. I explained what tattoos were as nonchalantly as possible. The guy wasn't offended, he offered for her to take a look at his arm. Lol. Same with wheelchairs, I smile and explain it without embarrassment. Now, the "is that lady having a baby!?" comments (when no, the lady is not), are the hardest to deal with...

[s@hmommy]

DD did this at Disney to a man that had severe burns scars. She just wouldn't shut up and he was sitting right beside me. I told her they were scars like she has from her stitches on her forehead, only bigger. He thanked us as we were leaving, he said most people try to pretend they (the scars) aren't there and that makes him feel more awkward because the kids star even more.

[Angel89411]

Originally Posted by s@hmommy DD did this at Disney to a man that had severe burns scars. She just wouldn't shut up and he was sitting right beside me. I told her they were scars like she has from her stitches on her forehead, only bigger. He thanked us as we were leaving, he said most people try to pretend they (the scars) aren't there and that makes him feel more awkward because the kids star even more.

Ds2 isn't there yet but I took this approach with ds1. I would just try to explain it to him as simply as possible. I think it may have helped that I had a surgery when he was 10m old that left me wheel chair bound among other things. So he watched my life and appearance change. He has never asked many questions of this nature.

[juliasmom]

My 2 year old love to say "that lady has a baby in her belly" very loudly on a regular basis. She hasnt been right once and it embarasses the crud out of me!

[EmsMom]

I try and be as honest as I can with them. It's tough as a toddler because they don't really get it. DD was born with a hemangioma on her forehead. Now at 7 it isn't noticeable but I still say to her "Would you like it if someone was pointing and staring at your birthmark"? She's pretty good about keeping her mouth shut.

[ralenth]

We were in the mall one day when my oldest was little. He saw a guy in a wheelchair, and was just fascinated with the whole idea. I explained it to him as best I could, and the guy actually came over and answered my sons questions. It was actually a good learning experience for my son. Later, we were in a clothing store, and he saw a woman with an eye patch. Hollered "PIRATE!" As loudly as he could. Not so pleasant (the lady was not thrilled). After we left, I explained again, as best I could. I use those moments as teaching moments...

[Greenwife]

A great idea to compare it to something she already knows, I'll do that if needed in the future. I have a birthmark on my thigh. I do want situations like this to be teaching moments and hope I can think of the right things to say to help the other person feel comfortable.

[aemarques]

"Pirate!" Hahaha sorry that is just so funny! I would have had a hard time not laughing. If I wore an eyepatch and a small child called me a pirate I'd laugh too, that's just cute!

I'd use most of the situations as teaching moments. Some you can some you can't. But you also can't control what comes out of a child's mouth, if a person is offended that's just too bad I think. Kids are curious.