Spreading the magic guest to guest

[Shanan]

I was waiting for the drummers in Japan when a woman asked if he son could sit on the bench with me. Sure no problem. Her son was about 6 & his dad and older sister hung out while mom went into the store. She came out and started talking to the dad about how there were no band aids in the store & how she hated that she left them in the room. The little boy had a blister on his foot. I had several of the blister first aid stuff in my backpack. I offered some to the mom. The dad kept trying to pay me for the stuff while the mom was helping the son. I kept saying no just enjoy rest of your day. I got a teary thank you hug from mom and a smile from a little boy.

 

[Kristina4109]

Shanan, that is wonderful. I don't think any parent would ever have an issue of someone offering band aids! Thanks for doing something to make someone's trip a little nicer.

I'm a parent, and yes, I agree, DON'T give something to a kid without asking the parent first. I remember not long ago, I was in a used book store with my daughter. She had just blown almost all her allowance on a brand spanking new book at the Disney Store even though I told her we were going to the used book store later. She saw about 6 books she wanted and I firmly reminded her that she already used all her allowance. A kindly lady kept offering to buy those used books for her, saying "They're books! You can't keep a kid from reading!" I had to explain to her that I was teaching my kid a life lesson about budgeting.

The kid you want to give a trinket to might already have it, or maybe the parents are going to surprise that kid with a similar trinket later. Maybe the kid had just grossly misbehaved and the parents don't want him/her to have anything this very second. Or maybe the kid is terrified of strangers. If it's food, you never know what kind of allergy or sensitivity a kid might have. ALWAYS talk to the parents first, if possible, when the kid is out of earshot. We'll appreciate it, trust me.

 

[ruthies12]

I wanted to come back and add a story about my last trip. We were eating a nice dinner in Chefs de France and started noticing a bad smell from the 10 month old. I was in the restroom just finishing up changing her diaper when a very nice lady who was just finishing washing her hands offered to hold the baby for me so I could wash my hands.

When changing a poopy diaper in a public restroom it is hard to do something so simple as wash your hands afterwards because you have no place to put the baby to free up both hands at once. That was so nice of that lady I still remember it almost a year later.

I have to agree with the other posters who were talking about random acts of kindness being the best. They really are! If you are really wanting to spread magic I would go into the trip looking for things like this to do to help others, the simplest things really are the most appreciated.