Christmas Kids

On our trip to New York we saw many members of the extended family, which included several young children. Three quotes were memorable to me.

Although separated by a week and from two completely different children, one a three year old boy and one a four year old girl, their remarks about me were very similar. The boy asked me who was in the picture on the wall, I told him it was me as a boy before I became a man, to which he blurted, "You're not a man!" - leaving me no answer to my inquiry to what I might then be. A week later the girl told my wife there was a "boy with hair on his face" and then pointed me out. The sum total of these makes me curious as to what made the children perceive me as not yet an adult, but I gather it cannot be that bad a thing and definitely better than the alternative ("who is that old man?").

The same girl who called me "boy with hair on his face" also took a liking to our daughter. She evidently was told that there would be a toddler around, but perhaps did not quite grasp what a 'toddler' was. Talking to my wife and I, she mentioned something about this. Lisa told her our daughter was not a 'baby' but not yet a 'child', to which the girl interjected "she's just perfect" - much to our delight!