The people you briefly love when you have children.

[Psammead]

Because they make your or your children's day.

I was thinking about this today when DD was waving madly at a bus driving by, and a woman waved back. Thank-you, woman. DD was very happy.

So.

1. People who wave from busses/trains etc
   
2. People in shops who give your children something free (balloons, slice of luncheon meat, bit of deformed criossant etc)
   
3. People who smile/wave/make funny faces/chat to your child in a queue, or on a bus, train, plane etc.
   

You are all brilliant human beings. Add to the list!

[sherbetpips]

The woman who came into the baby changing room (just after another woman walked out tutting at me) when my DS had done an explosive poo that managed to scatter itself around the changing area. She came in grabbed her wipes and helped me clear him and the room up without a fuss and without even asking.
Any parent that does not allow their kids to run around in restaurants - its not a charlie chalks for g@*d's sake!

[ElephantsAndMiasmas]

What a lovely thread!

It's really nice to know, as someone who doesn't have kids yet, that the parents of the kids I wave at/smile at/make faces at when they peer over train sets/chat to when they come up to talk to me/do drawing with if they're at a table with me on the train probably like it rather than (as I sometimes worry) thinking I'm a bit of a weirdo.

[NoOnesGoingToEatYourEyes]

Also anyone working in a shop who doesn't mind if DS is the one to lift everything onto the counter and hand over the money etc. It might take longer but he loves it, especially if they talk to him too.

And anyone who asks him to press the button for them in a lift.

[PanickingIdiot]

I wave back at kids who wave from buses/river boats etc. I also 'shoot' back at them when they form guns with their fingers and shoot me from behind trees (only in self-defence though, I never initiate it, honest!)

Like Elephants said, it's nice to know it doesn't make me a weirdo.

[GreenEggsAndNichts]

Oh yes, I've turned into one of those waving people since I've had children. I might have previously thought people were a bit mad doing it but now I am one of Them.

[exexpat]

The young Japanese woman sitting next to 4-year-old DS on the plane when DD (5 months) threw up all over me for the second time, about half-way through a 12-hour flight. She chatted and played with DS while I disappeared for an extended session in the toilet to get us both cleaned up.

And all the checkout staff in various supermarkets who very kindly gave 3-year-old DS the nearly-finished till receipt rolls when he was going through a stage of being obsessed with shopping and cash tills (don't ask...).

[GreenEggsAndNichts]

oh I should add, I have always waved back or responded when a child did something... but now I just wave even when they aren't waving to begin with.

[CheerMum]

Oh I am so glad I read this thread - I'm one of those people who will compliment a child, talk to you in the queue, play hide and seek around tesco etc etc. I'm not old ( well, 39) and rarely wear purple hehe but sometimes I do feel a bit weird as I'm generally the only person doing stuff like this, so glad to hear it is appreciated.

I also like to pull faces at kids in traffic jams and always wave to school buses. Hehe

Big thanks from me to coach Nadine who teaches dd cheerleading, even though she doesn't get paid much

Also thanks to Pam and the rest of the staff at my gp who will ALWAYS find an appointment for a child if you need one.

[BrianCoxhasSmellySox]

Awww, what a lovely thread! Thank you OP!

I fell in love with the Police at a recent Jubilee event - full of young school children and packed with Police, on our way out one of the Officers high 5'd some of the boys in my group and then made a joke of them having to go back to 'booorrring' school

So lovely, he didn't have to say anything - most of the other's didin't (well, they were busy protecting the Queen after all )

[JugglingWithTangentialOranges]

The toddler group leader who said my two rather messy and slightly old-fashioned DCs were just like the two Shirley Hughes characters - Katie and Olly I think it is !

A bit of inspiration and encouragement goes a long way

[Thermalsocks]

This is a lovely thread and making me cry as well.

The lovely staff at a Ramada Hotel in the States where we had to live for six weeks while waiting to rent a house. Two young dcs and no toys --- Sonny, the lovely girl in the gift shop who let dd stand on a chair and 'operate' her till for her, every day, and Tommy the bellboy who knocked on our room door one day with a box full of toys he'd brought from his little brothers and sisters at home.
This was a long time ago and they still remember.

[OOAOML]

The woman working in the incredibly busy John Lewis cafe who came up to me, got me a seat and asked what she could get for me whilst I struggled with toddler, baby crying for a feed, pushchair and shopping. I was on the verge of tears myself.

[wonderstuff]

The wonderful woman who seeing dd suddenly errupt in floods of tears at the bus stop, came over to find out what was wrong and on hearing that dd was going to miss ballet class because stupid mummy had forgotten her purse and didn't have time to go back before the bus came gave me the fare. DC2 was tiny and I was a forgetful mess THANK-YOU.

Farmers who wave from tractors. Shop assistants who are friendly to dd. All the people that sit and listen to DD's endless chatter when she is sat on the bus or passes them by on the street. She thinks everyone is her friend.

The children on long train journeys who appeared from behind seats and made faces at my children when they were tiny.

[PomBearWithAnOFRS]

OOAOML now there's a blast from the past, I haven't heard that in years

[wonderstuff]

And all the people who have helped me on and off buses when I've had two chilren and had to fold my buggy - superstars all of you x

[xeno]

The lovely lady in the doctors surgery waiting room recently who told me I was a good mum and smiled after i had been struggling with two increasingly bored children!

And practically all the waiters, waitresses and shop assistants in Paris when DH and I were there with DS1 (about 15 months)! There was one particular chef in a pizza restaurant who chatted away to DS1, showed him how to make a pizza and kept feeding him bits of ham and olive while making everyone else's orders while DH held DS and I (heavily pregnant) sat down and ate

[PenelopePipPop]

When DD was 4 weeks old and cluster feeding and DH and I were sleep deprived and spending every waking moment worrying about how not to break the Precious Thing we had to travel down to London to show the Precious Thing off to a wide range of assorted relatives. We were both terrified that the Precious Thing would cry and therefore planned our journey with military precision. In the event she slept contentedly in the sling on DH much of the way and then had a nice long breastfeed for the rest of the journey.

As we got off the train a young woman who had been sitting opposite us came up to say what a wonderful job we'd been doing and how she'd never seen such a great parenting team. It was so lovely of her I still feel teary thinking about it. We felt a little bit great and wonderful for the first time in weeks after that.

[topbannana]

The kind people who pass us very wide and slow while DS and I trundle endlessly through the bendy bit of the village on our bikes. New birthday bike syndrome in our house!

Also the (mostly) men who cheerfully allow DS to look at, poke, stroke and occasionally even photograph their cars, particularly the man with the Ferrari who actually allowed DS to touch the badge. I thought he would die of excitement on the spot :o

[NameGotLostInCyberspace]

Yes I am too am in tears reading this thread.

The lovely lady who looked after and was just about to give to the driver DD's Penguin.
We forgot him and when we realised we went back to the bus stop to wait for the bus to come back around the route.
DD was so upset.
We had to ask and check every bus that passed by. on the right bus this lady found Penguin and was just about to give him to the driver as we approached. DD cried with happiness/ relief! Thank you! x

[Thisisformatilda]

This is a lovely thread!
I love train train drivers that honk when we wave - especially when we're on a bridge
Yes yes to people who have low walls !!

The lovely lady in m&s who joined it with dd's hip hip hooraying...
Dd " hip hip!!!!"
Me " hooray"
Dd "hip hip!!!!"
Me " hooray"
Etc etc for about an hour!!!
Her little face lit up when a nice lady joined in too!!

[LadyBabsFlashesHerFanjo]

When out and about with screaming 8mo dd, the lovely people that spoke to her on trains, buses etc when I was 5 months pg and huge and emotional

[watto1]

The lovely cashier in the Hull branch of Halifax who let my very newly potty trained DD use their staff toilet.

The little old lady who exclaimed "Oh what beautiful eyes!" when DD and I walked past (I assume she meant DD's eyes, not mine!).

Millions more but can't think of any right now. So nice to have such a positive thread!

[Taffeta]

The waitress in Jamie's that let DD tot up the bill on the till and bring it to us - never seen her so proud!

The fruit and veg van people who serve DS each week and let him weigh all the stuff and tot up the total - without the calculator!

The Algerian waiter in an Italian restuarant in Amsterdam who on seeing DS's football top spent ages discussing the game with him

[AdoraBell]

Their Dr when they were first born, lady on a plane who held DD2 so that I could eat, man who did the same for OH- he had DD1, lady at American Airlines who helped us get through with 5 month old twins.

2 teachers, one for each DD, plus deputy head in relation to DD1

My nieghbour, another mum from school.

Lot's of ramdom's like the above mentioned lady on the bus who waved etc

[ifeellove]

The lovely man in John Lewis who let DS process the sale when I bought a washing machine.

The kind woman who showed him her photos and told him all about her family when we had to split up on a crowded train (I was sat in front of him with several bags and a wriggly DS2)

The firemen who offered the boys a sit in the fire engine and didn't run for the hills when my sister trampled over the small children to climb up first [sigh]