Wednesday, August 15, 2007

the park

An eventful day at the park. Someone tell me if this is strange to you...

So, the kiddos are playing, among the hoards of YMCA camp kids that have just invaded the playground. I'm standing, keeping a mother's eye on my 2-year old, praying he doesn't get pushed over and trampled by the older kids... and this sweet boy comes up, DS in hand, and starts asking me questions:

"So... who's that?" (pointing at Genesis, my niece lying in the stroller)
"Well, that's my niece."
"Oh! That's nice. What's her name?"

"Her name is Genesis"
"Wow! Pretty name!"
"So... is that your kid?" (pointing at Noah, my nephew who was walking towards us)
"Nope, that's my nephew."
"Ahhh..."
"That's my son." (pointing at Deron)
"So... how old is she?"
"She's about 9 months old..."
"Oh. How old is he?"
Noah replies... "I'm five!"
"Oh! That's good... I'm eight years old."

--keep in mind here, he's just standing in front of me asking questions--
"So.. What is your last name?"
"Well, ours is Crumpton, and theirs is Harvey"
"Oh... wow... So, do you have a brother and sister?"

"Yes, I do. A brother and a sister."
"Wow! How old were they when you were born?"
"Well, my brother was eight and my sister was five. Do YOU have any brothers or sisters?" (Trying to get the conversation turned in his direction.. I don't know if I've ever been this interesting to a stranger before...)
"Yes, my brother is 28 and he has a wife named (something.. I forgot..). I have a niece and a nephew. So, what is your mom's first name?"
"Marjorie."
"Wow! That is beautiful!!"
--this conversation goes on and on for probably 15 more minutes.. question after question after question. I told him he was probably a very smart kid because he liked asking so many questions (at least that's what people told me as a kid).


The thing I liked most about this conversation though, was that he was so respectful! He is the type of kid that mom's want their children to be like, at least in the way he could relate to an adult. I learned a lot from this 8-year old boy:
1. You shouldn't be afraid to talk to strangers; (most people are just normal people--obviously, use judgement, but that goes without saying)
2. Have your conversations with people be mostly about THEM, and not so much about YOU.
3. Even if you aren't running around with the other kids, you can influence people that are standing around watching in probably a much more real way.

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Another event happened at the park worth mentioning... Deron was walking around, playing on the playground; I was always searching him out among the myriads of kids. I found him under a platform of the playground standing in the midst of 3 elementary school-age girls. I called him over to me, mainly to get him out of their way. The looked at me and shouted, "He's NICE! He's really nice!" Now, if that doesn't make a mommy proud...

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

he is really nice!! :)