I try not to say stupid things in public. I'm not saying that it doesn't happen. I'm sure that many of my friends can think of particular instances when I've really messed up. In fact, at this moment 2 particular instances come to my mind, but I will refrain from writing about them. I will leave those moments to the people who experienced them with me.

But sometimes I hear other people say things and I wonder why they just can't think for a microsecond before speaking-especially when it's a complete stranger they are talking to.

When I'm out in public, I often have a child with me- it's part of my job. I take Nils to the grocery store or the pet store or the mall. We might be running an errand or just taking a field trip. But more than likely, someone is going to stop me and talk to me about whatever child I have with me and automatically assume that the child is mine. It happens all the time.

Sometimes I just go with the flow.

"Oh, what a cute son you have, " directed to me,
OR, "You sure must keep your mommy busy, " directed to the child.
I smile and keep walking. It's not really any of their business if the child is mine or not.

I remember once I was with Annika or Marta somewhere and somebody commented on how much they looked like me, which I thought was really odd because they do NOT even remotely look like me. I am not blond and not Swedish- I think the person had eye trouble or something.

Anyway, the other day Nils and I were at the mall. I took him to get his haircut, which was an experience in itself. Anyone walking by the salon probably wondered about the girl holding the very squirmy child still, as the child was loudly proclaiming, "You have to be still, you have to be still," and trying his hardest to get out of the chair. Just thinking about it makes me laugh- I really love that boy!

After the haircut, he was rewarded with a carousel ride at the Food Court. As he was finishing his ride, the lady said to me,

"Where on earth did you put him? You're so tiny."

I guess a comment like that should be taken as a compliment, but first of all, I was never actually pregnant- at any time- ever! O.k., so she was assuming that he was mine. But was she also assuming that he had just been born? Seriously, I wanted to say, "He didn't come out that way." He is 5 years old.

And who asks questions like that anyway- especially to a complete stranger?

Maybe it's not that weird, but it just seemed really weird to me.