Hands Off!

I was recently strolling with little man down the street when a middle aged man walking in the opposite direction reached out and stroked little man's face, and kept walking. A stranger, someone I've never spoken to before, or even seen before, reached out his grubby hand and touched my son's innocent face. He didn't ask me if it was ok, he didn't even acknowledge me. He just reached out and touched my son, and kept walking.

Um, hello? He isn't public property. I can't believe what some people think is ok, and the worst of it is, this happens all the time! Men are the worst offenders, but women do it too. I will be out and about, and suddenly someone will approach, tell me little man is cute, start cooing at him, and sure enough their fingers would find their way to his nose, cheeks, hands, and mouth (yep, I said mouth)...a couple people have actually put their fingers in his mouth before I knew what they heck they were planning to do.

It infuriates me. I don't know where your hands have been sinced you last washed them. I don't know when you last washed your hands. Or if you have a cold. Maybe you don't know if you have a cold, or even something worse. What on earth possesses a person to touch a baby they don't know? I've had to pull my son away and even quickly walk away myself when an aggressive admirer gets too touchy feely with him and tries to override my objections. Then I proceed to wipe him down with baby wipes in an attempt to diminish some of what he might have been exposed to.

I don't hear about this too much, so I'm wondering if it's just me. Has anyone ever experienced such nonsense? How do you handle it? It may seem cute to someone that my son has a budding tooth, but to try to touch it? And I don't even know their name? Do they want someone putting their dirty fingers in their mouth? I didn't think so. Don't do it to my kid!