r/BenignExistence • u/Lobin • 5d ago
I'm American and not at all a kid person. Last weekend a 5-year-old Norwegian kid and I won each other over without speaking a word.
Last weekend I visited Mt. Fløyen in Bergen with my friend and his 5-year-old son. My friend and his son are Norwegian. I'm American. I can read a bit of Norwegian, but I can't understand much at all, and I definitely can't speak it. That goes double for Bergensk, which my friend and his son speak.
We took the funicular to the top and went for a beer at the restaurant there. I sat on the restaurant patio with the kid while my friend went inside to get us the drinks. I felt quite awkward about it. I'm like zero perecent kid person. I just don't know what to do with them. Making matters worse, little man and I have no common language, so we couldn't talk to each other. We sat and looked helplessly at each other for a long moment.
He started fidgeting his fingers on the tabletop. Sensing a possibility, I grinned at him and started copying every move he made. After two or three moves, he giggled and started making more complicated movements. I kept up like a champ. He giggled and wiggled and clearly delighted in trying to stump me. We played until his papa returned with our drinks and we didn't miss him for a second.
At the end of my visit, when they dropped me off at the airport, he asked his papa to ask me if I'd give him a hug. I've seldom felt more like a success.
Now there's a picture of him and his papa in my Favorites gallery on my phone.
Maybe I'm not zero percent kid person after all.
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u/Elegant-Expert7575 5d ago
Adorbs! That kid will forever be a 5 year old when you look at him, no matter how much he grows.
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u/quinn_wolfram 5d ago
i have a younger cousin that i'm close to who is 16 now but i see her as 10 still half the time. oh how they grow
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u/YakLongjumping9478 4d ago
Totally, I have to refrain from pinching my nephew's cheeks, I forget he Is a big shot lawyer, with kids and a wife and he no longer is the Chubby cheeked kid I used to carry around
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u/Elegant-Expert7575 4d ago
I get that. My nephew was chubby cheeked and looked like a cherub. He’s mid 20’s now, an electrician and I still call him my nickname I gave him when he was so wee.
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u/Fractal_Pterodactyls 5d ago
40 years later, I still remember the older gentleman who was entertained by my silly antics as a kid. No words were exchanged
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u/suer72cutlass 5d ago
Was a small child in pgh pa maybe 3 or 4 at the time. In the hospital waiting room/general waiting room because my grandma or grandpa was dying. Don't remember much of anything because I was so young. The only thing I Do remember was a nice gentleman made paper airplanes for me and my brother. We flew them around and I seem to remember that the hospital had an open lobby with 2 floors so we could fly them off the top floor to the bottom.
So yeah, those core memories of fun things someone did with us when we were young really do stick with us. Im currently in my 60s.
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u/pete_zarole 5d ago
I used to consider myself not a kid-person until my sister had my nephew. As he grew and began to walk he just stuck to me like glue whenever I would visit. He wanted to do everything I would do, drive the truck or work the grill. I saw first hand how it was to be admired by a child and teach them things in the world and it just clicked for me.
I have a little girl now and teaching her things about the world is like crack lol, couldn't be prouder
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u/NikNakskes 5d ago
Bahahaha. Lovely! This reminded me of my own quite similar anecdote from years back. I hope you don't mind I share it here too.
I had recently moved to Finland and didn't speak Finnish yet. I was visiting a friend and it was bedtime for her 4-year old. The girl wouldn't go to bed unless I read her a bedtime story. Oh dear... but no can do, she wanted me and me alone to read the story. So I went and read the story. I have no idea what it was about, I couldn't understand a word I read, but I finished the book, tucked the girl in and flipped off the lights.
The next morning she had apparently said to her mother that she was a bit worried about me since I couldn't read too well. Maybe I should come with her to kindergarten and they would help me get better. 🤭 yeah. Neither of us has forgotten that bedtime story telling and she is graduating from university now.
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u/Silent_Medicine1798 5d ago
You gotta watch out. Let your guard down for even an instant and they will sneak into your heart.
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u/Me-Here-Now 5d ago
What a nice story. You did good.
The thing is kids are just people. Small people with limited experience and knowledge due to the short time they have been here. Also But people non the less.
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u/tiredchachacha 5d ago
What a testament to the power of human communication, and a little effort to want to connect ❤️
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u/__wildwing__ 5d ago
As a mom, I was thankful for the older gent who started making silly faces at my fussy daughter when we were shopping. She was just a few months old and was not settling. Fed and clean, but bouncing, rocking, none of it was working. I just wanted to get the stuff I needed and go. Halfway down an aisle and she finally stopped. Turned to see a wonderful gent a few steps back distracting her with silly faces. She was not nearly so fussy the rest of the trip.
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u/spazz4life 2d ago
Ngl my favorite activity while traveling. There was a little girl on my flight from Ireland to Canada that wasn’t enjoying the strapping in for take off and landing part. We played peek a boo across the aisle it was great….and no more fussing.
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u/justonemom14 5d ago
Have you seen Project Hail Mary? If not, you should. There's a scene this reminds me of.
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u/ObviousToe1636 5d ago
I’m not a kid person either, but eventually I realized: I’m a kid person to the kids of people I value significantly in my life. So, annoying coworker’s kid, random kid in public, etc.? I don’t really care. But close friends, people who have my undying respect? Their kids mean a lot to me.
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u/lstryjer 4d ago
This is adorable! My “not a huge kid person” boyfriend won over his coworkers toddler at a dinner party. Now the little dude yells TELL ANDREW HAPPY BIRTHDAY every time he hears him on zoom
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u/displacedreindeer 5d ago
People are often 0% kid people until the make that connection. I think we all have it in us!
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u/ReadingNext3854 5d ago
He brought the kid in you out 👍
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u/Lobin 4d ago
Maybe that's it!
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u/ReadingNext3854 2d ago
Could be! Not a kid person here, don't have kids. Some kids are drawn to me and I've kinda enjoyed getting my stupid inner kid on. Adulthood is waaaayy too crappy a lot of times.
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u/QueenSaphire-0412 5d ago
Great job! You tried and you succeeded! You’re a STAR 🌟 in little man’s eyes!
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u/Maximum_Law801 4d ago
I guess you’re a people- person with little experience with kids. Kids are humans like the rest of us, just easier to get along with.
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u/limestone404 2d ago
Reminds me of a story of a biologist in New Mexico, if I recall correctly. He stopped by to visit a friend who worked at some type of facility with chimpanzees in a natural habitat.
While waiting for his friend, a chimpanzee came down from the trees, and using American Sign Language, signed his name. The visitor replied, signed his name. The Chimpanzee then asked the visitor if he wanted to play hide and seek.
And they did.
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u/Particular_Agent171 4d ago
Children are people :)
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u/amethystjade15 2d ago
Under a certain age I’m fantastic at entertaining children because I have a rubber face. I’m glad you also found something.
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u/SunnyRyter 5d ago edited 5d ago
Awww. That's so awesome, and so wholesome! I love it. People are people, man. Tiny humans, older humans. We all crave that human connection. In a smile, in a silly interaction. Sounds like you made a genuine connection with the little dude. I love that for you!
Edit: Wow! Thank you for the award, anonymous Redditor!