Makiya's Greetings

My daughter never ceases to amaze me with just how polite and friendly she is.

She waves and says bye as we pass stop signs. She waves and says hello to the self-checkout machines at the grocery store, gives me a little reminder to grab our receipt and then waves bye-bye. Makiya always has a greeting for cashiers, even other customers in line, and usually wants to show them something (typically her lunch or snack). These people are often not mindful of a little person that may be trying to interact with them, and Makiya gets a little frustrated. You can hear the frustration as her voice gets louder “hi…Hi…HI…HI…HI…HI!!”

It makes me beam to watch her, and even more so when I notice her transform a complete strangers demeanor with her smiles.

Her little “hi and bye” game works to our advantage sometimes too; like when we need to distract her from something so we can move on. For instance, those little kiddy rides that can be found in the mall; all children seem to have a fascination with them, understandably. We however do not want to be sucked into the ritual of HAVING to allow her to ride them EVERY time we are there, so we had not actually been letting her go for rides. One day there was a very friendly lady there with her two little ones and she was freely offering the rides to us as her kids weren’t interested. Well of course Makiya LOVED it and so began the struggle each time we would go by; I even tried walking outside to bypass the scenario, but she knew where we were regardless!! So, I decided to try the “hi and bye” game! Before we even got in eye sight of the rides, I said “oh, here comes the car, helicopter and fish!! Say hi!!” It works EVERY time now!!

Our children really have wonderful things to show us. The simple things that we have tendencies to lose in our lives are brought back by our kids. They teach us to slow down and appreciate the small things in life. The amazement and wonder in their faces is infectious as they help us to see our world in a whole new light.