Kids generally love me. Maybe it’s that I grew up in my mom’s daycare so I don’t treat them like little aliens or brain-damaged tiny adults. I tend to treat kids like people. Regular, adult, people. I mean, I don’t share dick jokes with them, but I don’t share those with old nuns on the bus, either.
Well, that one time, but she told a filthy joke first so it was okay.
I’ve done the kid thing. I have two wonderful adults now, soon to be 20 and 21. And I’m in NO rush to be a grandfather. But in small doses, when they’re off the leash just being kids, they can be great. My former neighbor has two little girls, aged around 3 and 6 now, I think. I used to get groceries with them and their mom on Saturdays when I lived there. It was fun child-wrangling. It’s been said by those who see how kids and I get along that they are one of my key demographics.
I don’t write for them…although the Cody the Timid Pirate book that Jeremy did several years ago would likely go over great with that group. If it were ever published, that is. Maybe some day I should knock out another kids book, just for fun. Maybe it would be about a giant. I am a giant, after all.
You don’t see it?
The kid behind me in line at the ATM this evening did. He asked his mom if I was a giant. His mom did the thing all moms do, that hushed but not so hushed that I can’t hear her giving the kids the talking too. The discussion of “It’s not nice to say things about people.”
Now, let’s be clear here. The kid said, “Giant.” Not lardo, not tubby, not fat, not a whale. I’m big but I’m not any of those things. And honestly, I don’t know what I would have said to him if those had been his words, except “Watch that Captain Crunch, kid. It will sneak up on you in another decade.” No, none of those things. Giant.
So as his mom was correcting him, I turned around and looked him square in the eye with a smile. “You’re right. I am actually a giant. I’m the world’s shortest giant.”
We exchanged names. To him, I’m Nate the Giant. To me, he’s “Pook.” His mom says it’s not his real name, but it’s real to him. I finished my banking and said good night to my new fan, Pook. And he waved Nate the Giant out into dark of a Seattle night, now full of magical possibilities.
Tales from the Ragged Edge 
as a person who works with kids on a daily basis, it’s stories like this that make me smile 😀
I love this post, Nate. It reminded me of how people tend to shed their imagination quickly in the rush to “grow up” and their dreams tend to evaporate along with it. Kids can teach us so much if we listen. Great post.