Last updated on September 28th, 2021 at 01:44 pm
A MoM recently asked:
I have 9-month-old girls and while we were grocery shopping the other day someone walked up to us and while doing the usual asking if they’re twins and saying they’re cute this complete stranger SNAPPED A PICTURE of my babies with their phone. I was wondering if you could post a question asking if this or any other blatantly rude strange creepy behavior has ever happened to anyone else and how they handled it?! How do you handle people treating your CHILDREN like a sideshow? How did other parents handle strangers taking pictures of their twins?
Here’s what our Twinviersity fans had to say:
– This happens to my boys a lot. I think it’s because they are identical and have curly hair. I just politely ask them to delete the picture and they always then realize how creepy they were being. What really really bothers me is when strangers touch them. It’s usually their hair again. It happens so fast I can’t stop it. ∼ LR
– After I was done being shocked that it even happened I said: “Excuse me, but what makes you think that it’s ok to walk up to me and take a picture of my babies?” His response was that he just thought they were cute and wanted to show his wife since they don’t have any grandkids. He was an employee of the store and I filed a complaint against him also. Hopefully, he gets the “picture”. ∼ TH
– I’ve been asked twice for pictures of my boys. Once by a woman driving by us as we walked. It’s totally bizarre and I always say “No, we try to limit photos, social media presence, etc,” You can’t be too careful. Now I put car seat covers over their seats when we’re out. ∼ AK
– I’ve never had the picture thing happen. I would definitely be livid if strangers took a picture of them or touched them. I definitely give off an unfriendly vibe though, so most people just say, oh how cute and move on. The first time in my life my resting bitch face has come in handy! ∼ MK
– I’m always incredibly rude if someone gets too close to them and I don’t even care. Get. Away. From. My. Kids. They have to see how creepy it is. Normal people don’t go up to babies/children they don’t know and touch or take pictures of them. Not in this time period. There are too many bad people in this world for that to be going on. I’ll talk to people about them and be nice and answer questions, but I do not let them get too close or touch. If they even try, I go from nice to rude very quickly. ∼ ANK
– We get stopped constantly. I really don’t mind it. The only thing that bothers me is everyone completely ignores my 4-year-old. I always bring him into the conversation “and this is the best big brother ever”. Nothing creepy like that though. That would bother me. ∼ KE
– We’ve always had the typical questions and nosey-nonsense, but no one has ever taken a photo of our girls. That’s absolutely ridiculous. I feel like I would have been so stunned I wouldn’t know what to say at the moment. Hope this doesn’t happen to you again but if it does maybe have a response in mind. I think it’s completely reasonable to ask them to stop and if they’ve already taken a picture ask if they’d please delete the photo. ∼ JAM
– I have 5.5-year-old identical boys and I still get stopped all the time with them. People are fascinated by the twin thing. Mostly it’s just friendly comments and questions but they have been inappropriate and invasive at times. I’ve had people ask for pictures but I just politely said no. ∼ JFS
– We’ve always been treated like a sideshow. My twins are 7 now and we still are asked at least once per outing if they are twins. It was much worse when they were younger. I met my husband when they were 4, he didn’t even believe me that this was an issue. He was completely blown away by being stopped no less than 8 times on our first trip to Walmart together to point out or question the girls being twins. People are strange. ∼ AF
– I wear my girls when I’m out. Which has helped keep people from touching them. (They are almost two but small enough to wear in my TwinGo.) People always ask questions and stare. A woman touched me the other day and I told someone to not take a picture before too. It’s creepy. I don’t want anyone taking my kids’ picture unless it’s my family. ∼ BL
– I don’t mind most questions, including those about photos or touching. I’m just glad they ask first. I once let tourists from Asia take a photo with my kids. The kids don’t really care and the women had no identifying information. They were interested, not creepy. ∼ NG
– I had a woman pull out her phone for my babies. I made my husband be the bad guy and say “no pictures”. ∼ JFR
– I would’ve asked him to delete it. Once somebody asked me if she could take a pic of my twins and I asked what for and I said no. ∼ ES
– I had someone take a photo of my twins this past Halloween. He claimed that he had grown up twin boys. Mid-conversation, he pulled his phone out and before I knew what was happening he was snapping a picture. I was so taken aback I didn’t know what to do. ∼ HN
– I hope you asked her to delete the photo in front of you. ∼ ASB
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