Oh no... did he really just say that??

[aussienic]

For the Dwarf comment I would have just explained quietly and simply what dwarfism is..

for the larger man (and i have been in that situation) I took my son aside, he was 3-4 at the time and said it isn't nice to comment on someone if they look different. and while we notice if someone is different ourselves it isn't nice to point or comment. hope that made sense

Ds1 did it a 2nd time when we walked past a large man in the supermarket and said geez mum hes so fat I couldn't get past him. I was so mortified. I kept walking and when we left the aisle I told him it wasn't nice and if he did something like that again I would make him go apoligise. He has never done it again..

On a funny note though.. Ds3 was 3 yrs old and we were on holidays and when in a carpark in townsville this extremely large lady was in her car in front of us (facing each other) and she was eating a WHOLE chicken. you know the woolworths ones?? right from the packet no fork just holding it up and eating it.. DS3 said very loudly look at that fat fat lady eating that chicken (she would have heard as ours and her windows were down. Even now at 5 he had a chuckle and i said what was funny and he said I was thinking of that fat lady eating the chicken (I kid you not) I can't believe he still remembers.

Anyways it is normal and i think most people are understanding. With physical differences (ie in a wheelchair or missing a limb) I don't hide that my children have commented I just explain to them that the person may have had an accident or born that way and leave it at that. DS1 once made a comment to a lady in a wheelchair and she stopped and asked him if he wanted a ride lol. he had a ball

[Beach Mama]

Just wanted to add that I wasn't laughing at either the big man or the dwarf, just at your thread actually! I also think just a simple explanation is the way to go, mine aren't phased by it as such but kids are so honest that, for example O was quite right, the man WAS fat, it's just that we don't generally point that out, and also men don't have babies! With the Sudanese kids, I explained to her that some people have different coloured skin, like her and me for eg. she is quite pale and I am tanned, so we started with that.

Kat - Iz has a black Barbie too called Beyonce - loves her!