Strangers Keep Referring To My Bald Toddler Girl as a Boy!

My Beautiful Baldy Toddler Girl 

I love the fact that my toddler is still bald - for primarily two reasons:

Reason # 1 - She is still a "baby" to me, and I can pretend she isn't growing up.

My beautiful little daughter (20-months-old) is still a "baldy" in the hair department.  Her cute fuzzy, blonde little head is not much different than the little head that we kissed on the day that she was born.  I love that she is bald.  I suppose it depends on what you consider to be "bald"...she more or less has blonde fuzz.  I love her blonde fuzz.   Her bald (i.e., blonde fuzzy) little head makes her look like a baby (even though she's actually a 20-month-old toddler).  So, for me,  it's sort of like her "baby" stage has been extended, which makes me happy because I get really sad whenever I realize that she's growing up; for instance, I cried last month when I realized that her 18-Month sized froggy footy pajamas no longer fit her no matter how much pulling I did (I did the same thing when she outgrew her Newborn size clothes, 3-Month, 6-Month, 9-Month, etc...you get it).  I had a similar experience when my daughter had to switch from bottles to sippy cups (See more on at My 5 Stages of Baby Bottle Grief).   My little baldy lets me think that I still have my baby, while still being able to have the benefits of a toddler (12-hour sleep stretches, more predictable naps, etc.).  


Reason # 2 - I dread brushing the tangles out of my daughter's future hair due to bad karma coming my way.

I dread the day that she experiences her first tangle in her hair and then screams bloody murder at me as she throws the hair brush that she just grabbed out of my hair straight across the room and into a wall.  I was a terror when I was a child when it came to getting my hair combed.  (Mom, I am so sorry for what I put you through.)  I have some bad hair-combing karma coming my way.

With all of that said, I love the fact that my daughter is bald with blonde fuzz.

BUT...!

My Baby is a GIRL, thank you!

But I do NOT love the fact that strangers keep referring to my daughter as a "he" and a "him"....or as a "little guy!"  If I walk into a Subway restaurant one more time only to have the man standing in front of me turn around and say to my daughter, "Hey slugger!"....I am going to slug him in the nose!  OK fine, I realistically won't do that....I'll just keep getting irritated and then pretend to myself in my head that I flicked them in the forehead. 

• Yes, I dress her in pink - 99% of the time.
• Yes, she wears pink hats.
• Yes, I've tried bows - she rips them off.
• Yes, her sunglasses are pink with Barbie on the side.
• Yes, she carries a hot pink Abby Cadabby doll.

I'd like to propose a new "Rule of Thumb" for society to refer to when it comes to using pronouns (he, her, him, she, etc.) when referring to a baby they see in the grocery store:  

PROPOSED RULE OF THUMB - Pronouns and Babies:

• If the baby is wearing pink, it can be reasonably inferred that the baby is a girl, and therefore, the baby can safely be called a "her" or a "she." 
• Likewise, if the baby is wearing blue,  it can be reasonably inferred that the baby is a boy, and the baby can safely be referred to as a "him" or a "her" or "slugger."

I'd like this post to raise awareness on the issue of misusing the pronouns of he/she/his/her and on the role that they place in pissing off cranky moms (see 7 Things You Should Avoid Saying To a New Mom for more on cranky moms).  This is for all of my fellow moms out there who are like me - who may (or may not!) be irrationally oversensitive to the gender references that strangers use when referring to her baby daughter.  

Does this happen to anyone else who has 

a toddler girl with a bald/fuzzy head?

-------------------------------

You Might Also Like:

• Top 36 Must-Have Newborn Baby Items
• Top 21 Outdoor Toys for Your Toddlers This Summer
• What I'm Packing in My Suitcase For My 3-Year-Old This Spring Break
• Little Footprints:  My Still-Born Niece (Trigger Alert:  Pregnancy Loss)
• What To Bring On the Airplane to Entertain Your Toddler Who Won't Sit Still
• 7 Things You Should Never Say to a New Mom
• Top 25 Best Toys from Baby to Young Toddler
• Advice I Want To Pass Along To My Son 
• Top 35 Life Lessons, Wisdom, and Advice for My Daughter
• An Additional 22 Words of Advice for My Daughter (Part 2)
• Top 10 Differences Between My Pregnant Self and My Non-Pregnant Self
• Top 10 Baby Books (Books for Baby)
• 21 Funny Memes for Mamas
• 3D Ultrasound Photo Comparison to Actual Newborn Baby (Part 1)
• Ultrasound to Baby Photo Timeline: That's a lot of growing in just 365 Days!