weirdest compliment

[metaphortunate]

Took the bus home with the Junebug on my lap as usual, talking about inside voices, about how the doors on the bus open and close, just like every day.

Right before our stop, another woman on the bus asked me: "Are you the babysitter, or...?"

"No," I said cheerfully, "I'm his mother."

"Really! Wow, well you're really good with him! So many people just seem so, you know..." she said, and then it was our stop so I just said "Thanks!" and we got off.

??
!!

Comments

[ironed_orchid]

"Tired"...?
"Overworked"....?
"Sleep deprived"...?

Those are the sorts adjectives I would use to describe parents who are less engaged with their children when on public transport, but that's just me.

[metaphortunate]

And she might well have meant any of those things!

I see a lot of tired looking parents...but honestly, most of them are engaging with their kids plenty.

[jae]

Okay, that is a freaking bizarre thing to assume AND say.

-J

[likeadeuce]

Was she trying to say that she thought you looked too young to be his mom?

[thistleingrey]

Both a former high-school classmate and I have been asked whether we are the respective grandmothers of our children. Meanwhile, five years ago I was still flyered regularly while walking around a university campus. (The math is possible; some people my age have grandchildren my daughter's age, by two generations of procreation at age 16-19. But to assume that and be so certain of it as to open one's mouth is...beyond my attempts to rationalize on someone else's behalf.)

[likeadeuce]

Seriously, I sometimes try to figure out the relationships of people I see in public but I don't assume/ask because it's none of my g_d_ business. SIGH.

[thistleingrey]

Totally.
Also good is the rejoinder, "Oh, this can't be your child, you look nothing alike!" Meh.

[likeadeuce]

"Well, we weren't going to tell him he was adopted yet, but since a complete stranger mentioned it on the bus. . ."

[thistleingrey]

*nods* And sometimes it is one's blood-related offspring and the vagaries of mixed ethnicities have escaped the commenter's grasp. :)

[pantryslut]

Yup.

[likeadeuce]

Oh yes, for sure. I was just thinking, "What is the response that person hopes to get out of you if they are CORRECT that you are not biologically related to the child?"

[ironed_orchid]

I have a friend my age (41) who is a grandparent. My SIL is a year younger and has a 9 month old baby. These things can and do happen.

[metaphortunate]

It seems unlikely. :)

[kate_nepveu]

That is very weird. But yay engaging Junebug!

[thistleingrey]

Right, because only hired childminders teach kids proper behavior. Parents only hand them off, and certainly never ride buses or pay attention while on a bus. IDEK.

[amaebi]

I think that a lot of parents spend transitional times expressing everything in an irritated mode. Typically, I'd guess, because their parents did. Whereas lots of people who go into child-wrangling professionally are more intentional about the moments.

Disclaimer: I would dislike to work in childcare. I love my son and have been getting good results, but the loss of MaryAnnness mecessary to achieve that bothers me a lot when there's lots of continuous time. Even now, when he's an eight-year-old Mensch.

[jesse_the_k]

Based on the high number of totally off-the-wall comments I receive while riding the bus, I'd tag this one as best placed out the window.