She's not a doll!

[Eliza79]

Right, that's it! During the course of yesterday, E has had her....

Nose tweaked by some man at the bar while I was trying to enjoy my coffee.
Nose prodded an old biddy at the bakery.
Cheeks and feet squeezed by the bakery cashier.
All of the the above from some random warty man (who seemed to have done a day at the building site fortified by huge quantities of cafe corretto) and who just followed us around the supermarket and then just wouldn't leave her alone.
Forehead kissed by the woman at the newspaper stand.

Now, E (ok VPM) is very gorgeous and chubby and will smile and flirt with anyone but although she doesn't cry, I don't actually think she really enjoys being prodded and poked by strangers. I usually manage to swing her round in the sling just in time to avoid them but these were the occasions I didn't yesterday and am sick of it.

Without sounding like a stick up my bum English, I think that even babies need their personal space but usually try to say something along the lines of
'Please leave her alone, she's been ill recently' which is true but the real reason is that it just narks me. While it is lovely that she gets so much attention, I really don't think that she should be fair game.

So, should I be more vigilant and continue to ask them politely to stop (and by then is usually too late) or get narky and start pinching their cheeks and prodding their noses in retaliation, which is really what I felt like doing to the git in the supermarket?!

Sorry, rant over - and if the truth be known it does annoy me a bit when we're back home and her attempts to 'talk' to people get ignored so can't win really

[Rowan Tree]

are you on holiday? you should take a chill pill. Bet she's so cute they can't resist. I used to struggle not to eat my own daughter.

[Mrs B]

I would use the been ill recently tactic. My parents swear my chubby cheeks come from exactly the same thing, strangers pinching them, when we lived in Milan!