I saw the most adorable family yesterday in the hotel lobby. I was waiting to check in when they stumbled in. Poor Mom and Dad were clearly exhausted and nearing the end of their rope. Their oh-so precocious 4-year old was a ball of energy, however, but not in an obnoxious 4-year old sort of way.
He was chatty and engaging and asked a lot of questions. Mom and Dad tried to keep up. I don’t remember ever having THAT much energy or asking THAT many questions.
We all arrived at the elevator at about the same time. The kid immediately locked eyes with me and said, “Hi.” I said hi back. I noticed his speech was a little fuzzy and spotted two very large, almost bionic-looking hearing aids around each ear. Once in the elevator, I committed the cardinal sin by pushing the button to my floor. Seems when you’re in pre-school that is the highlight of your day. I quickly recovered by telling him to push ALL the buttons. (Mercifully, there were only five floors.)
He looked at his parents and back at me like I was some sort of saint. The parents and I had a good chuckle. They were a close-knit Hispanic family … polished and professional. Even though we only rode a few floors up an elevator, I could tell this family had an immense amount of love and respect for each other. 24 hours later and I can’t get them out of my head.
I saw them one last time before I left in the morning. They were downstairs having breakfast. The kid paused from eating his cereal when he saw me. He immediately waved. And loudly announced he was four years old and was staying on the FOURTH floor. 4 years! 4th Floor! Coincidence? Not to this child.
I immediately scrapped my eggs and bacon and had a big bowl of sugar-y, multi-colored cereal. Seemed to me like it was a good day to be a kid again.