nosey people

I was reading an article in a parenting magazine about what to do when random people give you advice about your children and it got me thinking about our trip to Meijer a couple of days ago. Dennis carried Alex into the store and when he went to put him down Alex's arm twisted funny and he started crying. A man walked past as Dennis was trying to comfort him and he said some thing about "He learned his lesson, huh?", as if Dennis had hit him or something and that if it had happened it was okay and kind of funny. It really bothered Dennis. Then we went to the service desk to return a toy Matt had gotten for his birthday and when Matt and I finally made it to the counter the lady took one look at my 1 year old and said "Your too big to have that." talking about his pacifier. I just laughed and said something about it making him happy and quiet when we are shopping this close to bedtime and she had the nerve to continue and tell me that he was still too big for it and that I should take it away from him. I couldn't believe her nerve, it was one thing to say it the first time, but to continue after I had already said that he needed it...
I don't remember getting any comments like that while Alex was a baby, but with Matt it's been like this from the beginning. When he was little he had a hard time gaining weight, I was very sick and feeling really bad about and people would constantly comment about his size. People would ask his age and when I would tell them they'd say things like "Wow, was he a preemie?" or something about there being something wrong with him. I even had a lady tell me that her new puppy was bigger then Matt, the 3rd comment of our 5 minute walk through downtown Plymouth with my Mom and after a doctor's visit that showed Matt had finally reached the 5th percentile for his age/weight group.
Anyway, it's been on my mind for the last few days, I'm not sure why people need to comment on other people's children. It's not like I haven't seen people out in the world and thought that they could be doing something different, but I would never say it to them because I realize that there may be something going on that I don't know about and even if there isn't a good reason for it, it's none of my business anyway. Maybe next time I'll tell them to mind their own business or ask for their boss and tell on them, or maybe I'll just leave and post a new blog...