Today at the OB waiting for my wife to begin the battery of blood draws for the 3 hour Gestational Diabetes test, a pack of nurses walked by and our son chased them down the hall. One of them first said that he was "so cute she could just eat him up" and then a few feet further she turned around as he caught up and asked him if he wanted to go home with her. Then she went flush and apologized for saying that. It's been on my mind ever since. Partly because my son can really pick them. (Bad Dad...) But also because the immediate image that came to mind was her taking him home to put in her oven.

My kid is cute. Tragically cute. If he was in day care or spent time away from us with people we aren't related to, I probably would be worried. But as it is, he doesn't and I'm not. Right now, those comments are funny and I get a kick out of pointing out how disgusting it is to tell a baby that you want to eat it, which does get a laugh.

But really, what's the concern here? Is it something to look for at some point? Not the Stouffer treatment of my child but the taking home part... He runs too much to be a good meal.

Looks like you are dealing with a classic Hansel and Gretel Syndrome. Never seen a more classic case.

Action steps:
-have less cute babies
-if that's not possible, stop bathing/changing babies
-do not, under any circumstances, wipe a nose of any kind. Snot=friend.
-model odd hooting noises whenever around strangers

These will generally take care of the problem.

As to the serious underlying anxiety: It's a crazy, dangerous world out there, and we do the best we can.

Daddy Clay wrote:
Action steps:
-have less cute babies
-if that's not possible, stop bathing/changing babies
-do not, under any circumstances, wipe a nose of any kind. Snot=friend.
-model odd hooting noises whenever around strangers

These will generally take care of the problem.

That's just not a world I want to live in. Well, maybe I can try the hooting.