Hi! I Just Met You.. But I Love You!!!

I have the friendliest kid in the world.

Seriously, I do.

I’ve never seen any other kid like him before.

Most people see babies or toddlers and approach them cautiously with “hi there, honey… how are you?” 

Speaking in a soft voice, trying to not scare the kid because the normal response is for that baby or toddler to hide behind their parent, or bury their face in their Mom’s shoulder and be shy.

Right?? 

Isn't that what most people expect?

Or for the baby or toddler to fuss and cry and reach for their parent when they are handed over to other people and have major “stranger danger.”

Well, my kid is so opposite of all this that people don’t know how the heck to react to him.

When I drop him off at school in the morning, he plays as I fill out his daily form and as soon as another Dad or Mom walks into the room to drop off their kid, Austin walks over to them, waving, and promptly asks to be picked up, hugs their legs, or offers them the toy he is holding.

We get reactions along the lines of

“Oh! Well, HELLO there to you too buddy!”

“aren’t YOU friendly????”

Or there is just plain bewildered looks from these parents when he does this and they look at me like “ummm help????.. your kid is clinging to my leg.”

What can I say?

He’s a lover.

He LOVES people… oh man.. take him anywhere and he just waves and waves the whole time, and holds his arms out to any old stranger, wanting a hug.

They started calling him the Classroom Greeter at daycare because every adult that walks in gets some Austin love.

other parents

other teachers

the director

the cook

everybody

Then there was the time I brought him over to my office for a chili cook-off lunch we were having.

I had to explain to my Vice President that I had a very friendly kid after Austin insisted on sitting on his lap, giving him a hug and then eating some of his cornbread.

Thankfully, he didn’t mind and thought Austin was pretty adorable.

Well, of course he's adorable!. Look at his Mom!

Wanna give me a raise now, Mr. V.P??? Since my kiddo was a great ambassador of “How Jessica Is a Great Person Who Is Raising Sweet Children, Therefore Worthy of More Money?”

Ha.

While I love this independent spirit, and how he makes so many people laugh and smile, I find myself apologizing for his behavior because not everyone is too keen on a baby clinging to their legs and burying his head between them, sharing his love and snot.

I don’t know how we are ever going to treat this kid about real Stranger Danger because to him, the world is full of people who want to play with him and feed him cornbread.