The Double Take

We never fail to get "double takes" from passers-by when we take Bella for a walk in our neighbourhood. You see, she's mixed (half Chinese and half Caucasian, or more specifically Afrikaans). The maneouvre goes something like this:
1. Look at my child
2. Look at me
3. Look at my partner
4. Look back at my child
(By this time, they would have passed us so they finish off the maneouvre by turning their heads around to get one last look).

I wouldn't mind it so much if they smiled or appeared friendly but most of them are just short of gawking at us like we were circus animals. My partner looks at them right in the eye in the hopes of intimidating them and making them aware that they were being rude but I can't. I usually just look away pretend that I don't see them but still feel their penetrating stares.

Sometimes, however, examination of our baby does lead to interesting encounters. For example, the other day when we were having lunch with my mother at a local Chinese restaurant in the suburbs, a white woman approached us with her obviously mixed child. She said that her child likes to say "hi" to all the other children in the restaurant. Upon hearing her accent, my partner asked if she was South African to which she answered "yes." Stop the bus, we found another child who was half Chinese and half South African! We always thought that our child would be a unique mix and we would be hard pressed to find another mix like her. We regret not talking to her more and asking her questions on how it's like raising a mixed child in South Africa (they were just vacationing here in Toronto). Glad to see that there are others like us though!