Our weekly columnist from Wellington, Emily Writes had an unexpected, yet heartening experience at her local park with her son yesterday.
Eddie is three – a little and young three at that – she explained on Facebook last night, but he’s very tall so “he’s often mistaken for an older kid.”
“He’s very sensitive and a wee bit fearful – he’s really outgoing too,” she penned.
So when three “rambunctious” boys approached the zipper, as she describes them, she certainly didn’t expect what happened next.
Read Emily’s letter to the parents of her son’s “Big Boy Friends” here:
*“OK – I’m on the hunt for the parents of these boys. I’m guessing it’s highly unlikely they follow my page, but I thought – “NZ Is small, maybe this will be shared, and they’ll see it…”
“My little one is three, and a young three at that, but he’s very tall. So he’s often mistaken for a much older kid. He’s very sensitive and a wee bit fearful – he’s really outgoing too. But playgrounds can sometimes be a bit overwhelming for him. *
“My heart dropped a little when three rambunctious boys raced over to the zipper. My littlelie had been trying to get the courage to go on it and I anticipated the usual outcome – my wee one would be pushed out of the way and there would probably be tears. I thought I’d address the inevitable so I said “Eddie, these boys are going to play on the zipper now, you watch them and when they’re finished maybe you can try again”.
“The boys each had one turn and then said to Eddie “You should have a try now” Eddie said “I’m too liddle and I’m scared”. The boys said to him “We will help you! You’re big and we will hold you while you do it. Don’t be scared, be brave”. They then together lifted Eddie up and helped him across and back again.
“Eddie was beyond ecstatic. I wanted to praise the boys and tell them they’re adorable and the sweetest kids ever (which I’m sure they would have loved ha!) but they disappeared yelling “have fun kid” to Eddie.
“So I wanted to say here – in case their parents didn’t see what they did: Thank you to the obviously awesome parents of these lovely boys! They were so sweet and they made a little boy’s day (and his mum’s day too!) Eddie hasn’t stopped talking about his Big Boy Friends and how he finally went on the zipper. Thank you for raising such kind and caring kids. Thanks for blowing that ridiculous stereotype about boys not being nurturing or gentle out of the water. I am very grateful – and so is a little boy who now loves the zipper.”
Emily has since made contact with all of the parents of her son’s sweet Big Boy Friends, with one dad saying: “So nice that someone made the effort to say and share such nice words. As parents you do your best to bring up your kids as best as you possibly can. Thank you for sharing this Emily Writes, it’s made us proud of our lil boys. It was so cool to hear that it made Eddie’s day!”
Emily Writes, Wellington, posted on Facebook.
Read more from Emily at her site www.emilywrites.co.nz. Follow her on Facebook and Instagram.
