Stare if you must.......

I had a 22 month old with me today who liked to stare back.
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We hit up the local restaurant tonight. Just the husband, me and 5 kids. Yea, four of those kids are 7 and under and just a tad darker skin tone.
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We are pros....scope out the place (one of our favorite local restaurants) to make sure there is a big enough table before we take the kids out of car seats. Run in and grab the big table while picking up two high chairs along the way. Make sure that we don't lose a kid along the way and don't hit anyone over the head with the diaper bag.
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It is not until we are seated that I take the time to look around. It is a small town and I have been known to not say hi to folks from church just because I typically don't look around, so I try to be cognizant of familiar faces.
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It is during that brief moment that I notice all the stares. I have gotten so used to them that I don't really notice anymore. It was more noticeable today because Kiwi noticed and waved at a few folks. Friendly kid.
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I know that people are curious. It really doesn't bother me because I know that I would be curious myself! I would want to ask if they adopted or fostered. But, like most of the people I run into I am afraid to offend anyone. Well, maybe they didn't adopt or foster.....huge oooops.
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Some days I do have people who stop and ask. I am not offended when they do. Thankfully, I haven't had too many negative comments said to me, I have had some negative stares though. You can actually tell the difference between a curious stare and a negative stare. Those.....well I ignore. I am not going to get into a debate in front of the kids. They don't need to hear that and I don't have time to educate someone who doesn't want to be educated.
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So, the title of my blog is not a negative one, just an acknowledgement that people are curious and they do stare. Just be warned, some days a little one may be staring right back at you.