I’m so curious how people handle these situations. Not that they arise that often, but it has happened to us and I’ve seen it happen to other parents. My husband and I have slightly different reactions to this and so I’m curious, what do you do?

When my in-laws were visiting recently, they took us over to the National Harbor to spend one surprisingly warm winter afternoon. While my son was running around the turf field a young woman approached us and began going on and on about him. She tried to strike up a conversation with him and asked him for hugs. He’s 1 1/2 and not that comfortable with random strangers yet, so he just stood there staring at her, hesitant to even smile. When we took him to play in the sandy play area she came back. This time she asked if she could take a picture of him. I didn’t really know what to say, so I said okay. I couldn’t think of any real harm in it besides the general uncomfortableness of the situation, and politeness kept me from shutting the whole thing down. He didn’t want his picture taken, tried to ignore the situation and clung to his grandfather. Instead of giving up she took a video of him and his grandfather. I’m embarrassed to confess that after she left I felt myself becoming irrationally paranoid that I had to stay very close to him or someone might run out and attempt a kidnapping. My husband met us for dinner after work and was not pleased to hear that I did not respond with a clear “NO” when a stranger asked to take a picture of our son. After seeing how nervous it made Roman, I realized in the future I could just say, “I’m sorry but it makes him feel uncomfortable,” or “I’m sorry, we’re just not comfortable with that.”

The idea of taking pictures of a stranger’s child feels bizarre to me. What do you do with those photos? I’ve observed it most commonly as a tourist behavior and considered it a cultural difference in personal boundaries, which was part of why I consented, out of respect for that difference. Thinking about it more I realized that American tourists are guilty of this abroad as well, so it is something for us all to be conscious of.

So what would you do? Any experience with this or tips for handling it?