[InitialLastName]

> I was mostly cold neutral in these situations, as if it was something normal. I usually casually chatted with the hairdresser (or MD, or whoever was about to do harm to my kids :)) and I could se that the child was closely observing.

> If I behaved like it was normal and not a big deal, they would usually relax and there was no fuss.

Humans are social animals, and the young ones learn their attitude about new situations from the leader of their pack. You can see the same behavior with dogs: meeting a new person, they'll often mirror the attitude their owner has to the new person (obviously with less fidelity than children).