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Yesterday I met a little girl, her brother and his friend, they are 6, 9 and 10 years old. I was out on an evening stroll and said 'Hi!' to them. So we started talking, exchanging names and all that, I sat down next to the girl, smiled at her. She was very shy around me, barely audible, I asked for her age but the word 'six' barely escaped her lips
. I think she was intimidated by my size, I am quite tall.A little into our conversation I boldly held her hand, she looked at the gesture with surprise but didn't pull away. One of the boys noticed too, he stared hard (later on he told me he didn't like playing with girls). I let go, she stood up and ran around, very playful. I spoke with the boys then, we made jokes, laughed ... Then they went off too, running.
She came back, sat an arm's length away from me. I watched her move inch by inch closer to me till only her small hand separated us. What could I do? I had to hold her hand. We were alone for about 5 minutes, I spoke with her and she opened up to me.
A lot more happened but I'll leave that out, I was with them for about 2 hours till the sun set. I remember asking her if she wanted to met me again, she responded with "But I don't know where you live?" I laughed and told her "No, we'll meet up here with your friends."
Well if there's one thing I've learnt spending time with kids it's that holding hands is a sure fire way to gain a bit of trust. Plus I just love looking at the little ones faces with our hands locked.
