Kids kill me. Every Saturday night I have to patrol a park and playground while they play movies on an 25' inflatable screen. Typically, about 200-300 people show up and it's primarily families with children between three and eight years old. I make small talk with the parents and usually the kids eyes get as big as saucers when they see the badge and gun belt.
I ask tiny kids how old they are and try to guess (if they're about three or four I usually say something like "So you're, what 14, 15 years old?) And I ask them if they're married. Which gets an incredulous "NO!" Or if they have a boyfriend or girlfriend which usually gets me either a shy smile or a resounding "NO!" again.
A lot of parents will tell their kids to remember the uniform and if anything bad happens, to look for people who look like me. It feels pretty cool when you see the dawning comprehension on a child who has probably made one of their first cognitive responses and the parents have taught them something important.
Then again I've had parents say stuff like, "You better behave or he'll handcuff you." I just want to pull a parent aside and say "What the fuck is wrong with you? Your kid is now going to have a lifelong fear of cops! Tell them I'm here to make sure they're safe and nothing bad happens." But that would be self destructive and I'd definitely hear about the encounter from one of my supervisors.
One family in particular always makes me smile. Jill and her husband (IDK his name) have three beautiful kids and their three year old boy, Joseph always shouts, "Hi, John!" whenever I walk past them. Not just in greeting when they arrive, but every time I go down the sidewalk. I never stifle his enthusiasm, though. I wave, smile and if I happen to have some candy I'll give it to his mom to give to him later because I don't want them to get used to near-strangers giving them anything.
You've made a connection with someone who is probably going to love you and remember you forever. That is a pretty neat thing.
