She crouches down to Emma and Ethan's eye-level and shines brightly into their faces. They can't help but like her. Their walls come right down and they are best friends. I'm not really sure what it is. Some people just seem to be tuned-in to that child frequency more clearly.
Necole and I became friends on a more personal level after she offered to help me take the kids to the park. I'd mentioned that I really couldn't take 2 barely walking one-year-olds to the park by myself. I'd have to carry one, follow one. She kept insisting on helping me. Very enthusiastically. It wasn't like when most people offer, sort of politely and dutifully.... I am not offended and I reciprocate the social grace. But in the back of my mind, I know that I would never call this person out of the blue and ask her to babysit. And I also know that she probably won't...oh, just one day up and decide to call me for the first time ever just to see if I feel like going out with my husband tonight, so she can watch (and meet) our kids for the first time ever. Haha! We might not even really have each other's phone numbers! "Call me sometime. Okay! Let's have lunch or something...yeah.... Well, good seein' you!" :) But not this time. I could tell she really meant it. Necole said, "Do you want to go today later after work?? Colton and I just love babies." So I took her up on it. And she wasn't kidding. They love babies. And babies love them. Necole doesn't just look at them or watch them; she sees them. And she plays with them. She runs around at the park and slides down the slide right along with all the kids, laughs and has a good time. It's not a cheesy fake laugh or baby talk, no exaggerated movements or facial expressions; it's real engagement and enthusiasm with children. And she has this twinkle in her eyes the whole time, a big smile...a genuine friend to adults and kids.
We had been missing them so much. Finally, she and Colton came over for a visit the other evening. Our kids were so happy to see her...and Colton, Emma is especially happy to see him. She and Ethan both think he is such a cool, big kid. He even stands up for them just like a big brother at the playground if a bigger kid isn't being nice. Emma acts like Colton is her hero, the way she looks up at him with such awe and admiration. She says his name over and over. She sometimes runs right up to him immediately when he comes over, not needing any time to get over awkward shyness, just walking right up to him with a big smile. She hugs him and says, "Hi, Colton!" It's so sweet.
On this night, not too long after they walked in the door, a game of Hide-and-Go-Seek had somehow broken out. Colton hid and Emma and Ethan went to look for him. It was so much fun, counting and covering our eyes. Emma wasn't exactly feeling the suspense of the hunt; the fun part for her was counting and hiding her eyes. It was enough just to "hide" behind her hands while she counted and then "seek" when she uncovered her eyes: instant gratification, none of this wandering around nonsense. "Waun, tuu, free, four, fiye, siix, se'ven, eeiiight, niine, ten, e-wev'-en...BOO! [hysterical laughter]" Peek-a-boo style hide-and-seek is the greatest according to Emma.
Ethan loves the counting and face-covering part, too: "One, free, five, nine, free, four, free...ten! Ready or not, here I come! [scampering, squealing, giggling]" And when he found Colton, he was so proud. "WE FOUND HIM! WE FOUND COLTON, MOM!" he said...every single time.
When it was his turn to hide, he was intense and ready. Necole said, "Okay, Ethan, hide!" and he snapped into serious. He looked down for a split second, as if he was thinking, "Where is the perfect hiding place?" All of a sudden--he dropped to the floor, face down, hiding his eyes from the light. He stayed very still. Necole and I looked at each other and laughed silently. Necole said, just above a whisper, "Are you hiding, Ethan?"
"Yes," Ethan answered, more rasp than whisper. He lifted his face from the carpet to answer and then gave the area a quick scan for the seeker. Quick--hide! He squeezed his eyes shut and buried his face back into the carpet.
Colton came in and chuckled when he saw Ethan's hiding place but pretended for a few seconds before calling out, "Found Ethan!" and then a few beats later, "Found Mom and Emma behind the chair!"
I was just sitting there on the couch smiling, laughing, watching this game take place, taking pictures, and thinking to myself, when was the last time I had this much fun so spontaneously, so wholesomely...stepped out of the routine, out of the norm and played a make-believe or abstract game from childhood with my kids? When was the last time we turned off the tv and played...without any toys, just our imaginations and each other?
That night was a classic night, a cherry coke and apple-pie kind of night.
