I’m starting to reconnect with some of my old friends from high school but they have a 5-year-old now and I want to make a good impression but I don’t really know how to interact with children. Do I just like ask them what their favorite Disney movie is or something?

  • shalafi@lemmy.worldEnglish
    0·
    3 months ago

    Kids have always loved me, had no idea why, not much love for them. Asked my ex-wife why they latch onto me when I often get annoyed with them.

    “You talk to them like adults. You don’t condescend and treat them like they’re stupid, not afraid to use a strong vocabulary. No one else does that so they respond to the heightened respect.”

    I still use “big” words with them, but my own kids taught me to occasionally stop and ask, “Know what $X means?”, then give a short answer and flow right back to where I was. In no case will I baby talk 'em, but you gotta realize, they’ll pretend to understand a thing to keep the conversation going. They’re having a blast being respected in such an unusual manner and don’t want to derail the conversation.

    As an example, don’t say, “Oh! Do you like STAR WARS? It’s really neato isn’t it? When I was a little boy, I loved Star Wars! Isn’t Darth Vader cool and scary?!”

    Say instead, “Star Wars fan, huh? Seen Rogue One yet? That one jacked me up, wow. What did you think?” And then carry on (mostly) like you’re shooting the shit with a friend.

    (Hope that example comes across, it’s not a thing I think about, just comes naturally.)

    Kinda like how I learned to talk to girls in high school. Holy shit that turned out easy! Instead of treating them as beautiful, strange and untouchable creatures, putting them on a pedestal, talk to them just like your guy friends. With the other guys bumble fucking around trying to figure out what to say to be attractive and not offend, you really stand out.

    Turns out people react well to be treated as equals. Who would have thought!

  • Truffle@lemmy.ml
    0·
    3 months ago

    Aways come down to their height level when you talk to them so you can show them and read their facial non verbal language, you want to be on their same eye level but not on their face. Don’t stare or make too intense eye contact.

    Pick a topic and see how much enthusiasm the kid shows, that can be a useful clue to see if you re going the right way with your interaction. Take into account that some kids (and some adults too!) don’t like interacting at all and that is also fine.

    Some popular ones are: Dinosaurs, pets, tv shows/videogames, favorite color, favorite ice cream flavor, favorite song, favorite book.

    Hope this helps.