The best thing happened to us tonight! B and I met Aunt Megan at a nearby Perkins. Nothing fancy, just another night out to dinner. We were chatting away, B sitting with my on one side of the booth and Meg on the other. An older man came in and sat down in the booth behind us. My son, the friendly talker, struck up a conversation with this stranger. I tried as best I could to keep B focused on his dinner but then the stranger started interacting with him and all was lost. The man announced that all of his grandchildren were grown and gone, as he began to "make a mouse" for B.
The mouse was a handkerchief contraption that had ears, nose, body and tail. It was adorable, he crossed his arms and made the mouse jump in the crook of his elbow. A couple of times the mouse jumped right out of his arms onto his booth. B was amazed and just kept asking "What's that?".
We all went about our business for a few minutes. B kept turning around and smiling at the man, but he was well behaved so I let him go. Listen, a well behaved two year old is much more acceptable than a screaming one! The man then began asking B what his name was and how old he was and so on. B did a great job holding a conversation. Finally the man said B "I like your name. I wish I had your smile! Do you have a piggy bank at home?" To which B answered "yeeeeeesssssssssssssssss". The man continued, "would your mom let you have a couple of dollars to put in that bank" as he looked at me. I replied "oh, no! Maybe a couple of pennies". To which the stranger took out his wallet and handed B a 5 dollar bill! He instructed B not to buy any junk, to which my hilarious son answered "ahhhh, man!". B then on his own said Thank you, and our evening went on.
I considered slipping the 5 back to him, but it seemed that giving money to B made this stranger happy. B slid the 5 into his pocket we came home and it is now in his piggy bank.
I know it is important to teach our children to stay away from strangers, but sometimes it's important to teach them to be kind and friendly too. The whole event made me happy and I hope that this stranger has joyous events placed into his life because he sure brought some into ours!
The mouse was a handkerchief contraption that had ears, nose, body and tail. It was adorable, he crossed his arms and made the mouse jump in the crook of his elbow. A couple of times the mouse jumped right out of his arms onto his booth. B was amazed and just kept asking "What's that?".
We all went about our business for a few minutes. B kept turning around and smiling at the man, but he was well behaved so I let him go. Listen, a well behaved two year old is much more acceptable than a screaming one! The man then began asking B what his name was and how old he was and so on. B did a great job holding a conversation. Finally the man said B "I like your name. I wish I had your smile! Do you have a piggy bank at home?" To which B answered "yeeeeeesssssssssssssssss". The man continued, "would your mom let you have a couple of dollars to put in that bank" as he looked at me. I replied "oh, no! Maybe a couple of pennies". To which the stranger took out his wallet and handed B a 5 dollar bill! He instructed B not to buy any junk, to which my hilarious son answered "ahhhh, man!". B then on his own said Thank you, and our evening went on.
I considered slipping the 5 back to him, but it seemed that giving money to B made this stranger happy. B slid the 5 into his pocket we came home and it is now in his piggy bank.
I know it is important to teach our children to stay away from strangers, but sometimes it's important to teach them to be kind and friendly too. The whole event made me happy and I hope that this stranger has joyous events placed into his life because he sure brought some into ours!
1 comment:
tears in my eyes...
do you know where this man lives, I need to feed my piggy bank, too!
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