Ok so my kids are 'suffering' (not really, lol) from elderly people in South East Asian countries (Thailand and Cambodia).
Their cheeks seem to work like magnets for the hands of old ladies and they grab on to them like their life depends on it...
Also older men seem to like slapping my 5 year old boy on his bottom when he doesn't see it coming...
Is this some sort of tradition or they just are like 'jerks'?
The article Don’t Touch My Child! Lessons from Asia by Cordelia Newlin de Rojas at InCultureParent.com article may be of interest.
I can’t speak for all Asian cultures but in Singapore and Thailand, people love kids. And I am talking everyone. Age and gender simply don’t factor in. At first, I admittedly found it a little disconcerting how so many people would reach out and touch my children—a little pat on the head, squeeze of the cheek, caress of the hand. This is simply unheard of in the States and I imagine many, if not most, Western countries. People would only half-heartedly laugh in New York should you suggest someone might sue a person who touched their child.
The other day I was sitting on the bus taking my little girl Claude for her one-year check up. As the bus sat at a stop, a man in his mid-forties tapped the window with a big grin trying to attract and keep my daughter’s attention. There was nothing odd or threatening about this. She was overjoyed: new face = new fun. Men and women interact with my children regularly. I don’t know them and likely never will. My girls love it and little by little, I do too.
If there is one thing I could take home with me from my experience in Asia, it would be the genuine love and appreciation of children by men and women alike. I’ve come to realize the lost opportunity in the West that these interactions in the East provide.
In the picture I see your daughter has blonde hair, it is very rare to be born with blonde hair in Asian countries, so it will attract a lot of attention from the people there.
