The other weekend we went to my favorite bookshop, and just inside the door was an absolutely adorable tiny child. Maybe she was three? Brown curly hair, blue eyes, shoes that lit up.
I was looking at the turnstile shelf of WhoHQ books (delightful little nonfiction books for kids that pack a lot of knowledge in a easy to read format), and she brought over a rainbow/animal board book that she liked.
"Look! It's blue!"
"Sure is, what do you see?"
"A WHALE!"
"Yep!"
And I kept shopping around. No joke, this child came and showed me every single book she picked up. She wanted me to know what she saw, what was on the page, that she was "reading." I think this little girl brought me no fewer than 7 books to check out with her.
Her mom said, "I'm so sorry, feel free to ignore her, here you are trying to enjoy the bookstore!"
I honestly didn't mind. She was adorable.
I thought for a moment, maybe she senses that I'm a safe person! She knows I'm good with kids!
Bryce kind of ruined that thought though when he told me in the car after that she came up to him once, and he just said "ah" and walked away.
So, either she has terrible survival skills (clearly NO stranger danger at all), or I was the only stranger willing to entertain her show-and-tell.
She even brought over a little stuffed spider that delighted her, and I agreed it was pretty much the only spider I could think was cute (although that's a lie, I find the little jumping spiders strangely adorable).
I was just thinking, "aw, how nice that I'm having this interaction with a random toddler!"
But then she got carted out of the store, wailing, "WAAAAAH, I POOOOOOOOPED! WAAAAH!" and I was like, yep, still enjoy tiny children in small doses.
It was delightful while it lasted, and didn't make me feel sad at all (despite the little girl eerily resembling a child I could have had).
I love this. I would've been the same way. I would've enjoyed seeing her books. I would've thought this toddler liked me. And then I would have gotten a reality check (as in, the toddler likes everyone, not just me lol) from a passing comment from my boyfriend. Hahaha.
ReplyDeleteSweetness overload. Until the wailing. :-) Cheers to no not feeling sad.
ReplyDeleteI am glad that you enjoyed moments with a adorable tiny girl. It doesn't happen often - but I also love chatting with a random child, when I have oppurtunity.
ReplyDeleteOoh, sorry, I could have sworn I had already commented. Cheers to not feeling sad, and I love your final thought, "yep, still enjoy tiny children in small doses."
ReplyDeleteI find myself smiling at babies in strollers and toddlers at the mall a lot more these days. I never would have imagined that, years ago!
ReplyDeleteHowever, as we were leaving the mall earlier this week, we encountered a group of young moms pushing strollers -- not two, not three... SEVEN!!! (That's a new record, for me!) Two or three abreast, too, taking up the entire aisle.
I will admit, that gave me pause! (And an eyeroll, lol.)
You have a very nice blog. I applaud 👏 you for the work you are doing as a special educator. I wish you good health and happiness.
ReplyDeleteWarm greetings from Montreal, Canada ❤️ 😊 🇨🇦