My aunt taught five-year-old children in kindergarten for 30 years. She was a master at knowing how to work with children.
During an overnight visit, they took my daughter for a walk. My daughter was 2 at the time and knew a rarely used shortcut to a nearby park. In order to reach the park using this shortcut, one had to walk across a short narrow bridge with no railing. The drop was only 4 feet, about as wide as the bridge, but in those days regulations weren’t nailed down as tightly as they are today.
Lauren is three-years-old in this photo. It was that phase in her life when she wasn’t too keen on having her photo taken.
When they reached the bridge, my aunt was positively brilliant. Instead of taking my daughter’s hand whereupon she could draw her little arms about her body and refuse to be treated like a baby, my aunt said this, “Oh, dear. I’m afraid I might fall. Would you hold my hand while we cross the bridge?”
Of course, my sympathetic child immediately reached up and took hold of her “nervous” aunt’s hand and they crossed the bridge together.
Without saying a word, my daughter grabbed hold of her great-aunt’s hand on the return trip as well.
My aunt applied wisdom born of experience in handling this situation.
I wrote this 5 years ago.
Credit- Kathy Pennell