A child melted me into a puddle of joy today.
I was dogsitting this weekend, and I’ve realized that dogs don’t belong to their owners, they belong to the world. But that’s a different post.
I don’t have kids, but I dig them. Sadly I don’t have any nieces and nephews or friends with kids locally so I don’t get the opportunity to appreciate them often. Clementine (the bulldog I was dog sitting) is well-loved by adults and children alike, and so when I take her out I purposely hang out on benches on the sidewalks so she can make people happy.
So I was sitting and a family with kids came over and wanted to pet Clementine. A girl of maybe four calmly approached Clemmie, and petted her nicely. Next thing I know the little girl is standing next to me and petting ME! Her parents started to tell her NO but I shook my head and mouthed “it’s ok.” Soon she was playing with my hair, and viewing me so intently. She was so curious, so unafraid, so pure, and in that moment, I loved her. I would have hugged and her she would have hugged me back but I’m sure her parents would have thought it weird, but she and I wouldn’t have. Why can’t we as adults have such innocence and trust between us?
I hope her parents treasure her.
Had the opposite experience happen later that day, as I was trying to take the elevator downstairs to walk Clemmie, and some kids were filling it up with some bags, and their two dogs in carriers (obviously going on a trip). I tried asking them questions about their dogs, but they didn’t’ want to answer me (Clemmie was hurt that they didn’t even try to pet her!) I saw why just a few minutes later, their mom comes racing down the hall and tells them to “take the bags out of the elevator!!” I offered to help them unload downstairs, but she just ignored my offer (and me). Such a contrast between parents who teach their kids (whether by word or example) that people are nice and parents that teach their kids not to interact with strangers.
