Excuse Me, May I Pet Your...

I'm only three years into this parenting thing and I already know one thing for sure; kids are embarrassing with a big, screaming, capital E! And some moments are beyond salvaging. I recently had one of those moments.

Alright, so all kids love animals. Well, in New York City, there are plenty of animals around. And Hayes has been excited all summer about getting his little hands all over e-ver-y leashed dog he sees that I had to sit him down and give him very specific instructions on pet safety. Now the scenario goes something like this: Hayes spots a cute, leashed dog coming up the block. When the person with the dog is within earshot, he says, "Excuse me, may I pet your dog?" Then Hayes slowly offers his hand for the dog to sniff before gently petting the dog's body.

I must say, this has been going very well for quite some time until the other day when Hayes spotted a cute baby in a stroller coming up the block. When the person with the baby was within earshot, he said, "Excuse me, may I pet your baby?"

Oh my god!

Really.

And there was nothing I could say as the person with the stroller passed us by.