Flatterer

My little four-year-old granddaughter is big on raising people's self-esteem. Every place we go, she tells those around us (as well as her family members) that they're pretty, nice, smart, etc. Yesterday she told me that her life wouldn't be as good if I weren't in it. A few days ago when my younger two sons were asking her which uncle she liked best, she replied that she loves both her uncles so much, but it wouldn't be nice to have a favorite. We all went out for a last family breakfast before they all got on the road back north, and she told the waitress how pretty she was and added, "I like your tattoo." In fact, she tried so hard to engage the waitress in conversation that we had to gently remind her that the waitress was very busy and couldn't talk then.

She does this everyplace we go, and while I know she has the best intentions, it can be semi-annoying. Of course, she doesn't understand why people can't always stay and chat with her, and sometimes she gets sad when they walk away. My middle son was like this, not so much with the sadness if others didn't engage but definitely with the chattiness. I remember in particular, when my youngest son was a baby, my then-four-year-old would strike up conversations with people in stores who would eventually have to kind of run away from him to disengage. It was funny. He's still somewhat the same in that regard. Certainly he, of all my sons, is the most verbose. He is like me.

I always find it interesting how different children from the same family can be. I saw it in my own children, and I've seen it in my granddaughters. The older one is much quieter; she will talk but she doesn't go on and on. My sons were saying at breakfast this morning that the younger one acts like she's taken some kind of special training, some sort of "I'm okay, you're okay" class that teaches the importance of saying nice things to everyone. Obviously, she could engage in worse behaviors.