I saw baby Sam two times this week.
My sister came around last Sunday for a fast visit but I quickly noticed that something changed.
He's scared of me...
Or....well...he took one look at me and quickly hid behind his mom....
He reminded me of myself from 31 years ago.
I used to be exactly like that and it lasted for a very long time!
Yes, this is me from a long long time ago.
fast forward six years
There is a famous story that I am reminded of almost every year for the last 27 years.
I was six.
It was my best friends Ben (@bennierex, yes, our @blockbrothers developer) birthday and he lived across the street.
He's two weeks younger than me.
He gave a birthday party but I wouldn't go there.
No way I was going to such a scary party alone.
I don't know how it happened but I remember in the end that all the kids from the party were standing on the other side of the street calling my name.
"Mark! please come! It's ok!"
I was standing in the doorway of our house next to my mom.
And that was it. I would not go. Too scared!
I never forgot and neither has Ben.
I saw the same behaviour in Sam. It was a true flashback.
At some point I grew out of it but it lasted for years.
I hope Sam will do better :)
Now the second time I saw Sam this week was yesterday.
My sister asked Bianca to babysit and I came with her.
Sam wasn't amused when my sister left.
He clung to Bianca like she was his saviour.
Again he didn't like me too much.
I choose to ignore him and just excist and do my thing.
It took 30 minutes but he eventually crawled towards me and looked up.
I was normal once again!
I picked him up and we had a laugh.
My sister later told me this is a phase.
It's apparently normal for his age.
Now, what he doesn't' t know yet is that he's coming here for the whole day next Saturday.
His mom and dad are both very busy.
The last time he came here it went so well! I felt like a pro.
But this time I'm a little less confident.
We will both have to overcome some fears this time.
Fingers crossed!
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Beautiful .. Haha
Cute .. Beautiful boy
Thank you for sharing your story with us.
Kids of that age often show that behavior and it perfectly normal. My son did that a lot and often people in my family did not understand that. Instead of leaving him alone, they kept jumping on him and asking him to come to them. All of that frustrated him. Children become easily over-stimulated and this results in frustration. What you did with your nephew- leaving him alone and not overwhelming him by picking him when he didn't want to was a great strategy. When you do not apparently take interest n a child, you increase his curiosity and prompt him to come to you. So when a person does not give attention to my son and does not ask him to shake hands with him, my son himself goes to that person cos he wants him to take interest in him. Your next babysitting day with your nephew will go just fine. Just don't overwhelm him, stay calm and introduce activities to him without asking him to do them. If you want him to play with you, start playing on your own with a toy. If you do want him to try a food, eat it yourself first. Show him things but don't ask him to do something or even prompt him and he'll come running to you. Love and good luck!
Great advice. Thank you!
Yes as your sister said it is the phase of life. I have also experienced it in my life and now everything is OK. I do not know the reason behind it but hormones may be responsible for it.
He is so cute. This is normal for his age, my girls knew screaming if they did not love someone. It will come to him when he realizes that you are always in the mood to play with him and that you are an inexhaustible source of toys and money. And when he is 18 years old he will borrow the car.
Most kids are like that at his age. Even the mighty outgoing talkative @lordjames would not play with people. Except a few friends that were close. I learned I use to hold tight to our babysitter and would cry if anyone tried to take me from her.
But once they get used to you, you'll be begging for them to leave you alone.
He got an amazing smile.
that made me laugh man! Glad to read I wasn't the only one.
nice..
child looks like you :))
I dreaded going to kindergarten as a child and even now I can remember the sheer terror of being "abandoned" there :)))
Sam is following the family traits... It is fascinating to know that some characteristics and traits are passed from generation to generation.
Oh yeah, it's a very pleasant story and the fact that Sam is nervous at your meeting with you, my friend, this is quite normal behavior at his age, since he is still young and he is more attached to women and as you notice he needs a little time, that would get used to men. Then most likely Sam completely gets used to you and from you already does not lag :) Sam is a wonderful baby! Thank you Mark.
Well the baby is really very cute and hey...did you say that was you at 6years old????
How did you guys manage to get a coloured camera that sharp way back then? Thought you guys made use of black and white cameras back then. Well you looked very cute.
Secondly , seems you were just scared of people generally when you were little. You couldn't even go hang out with your own age mates...well that's funny coz I was like that too. Very timid but I have since outgrown that just like you.lolzzz
Yeah, nowadays I'm very open and can talk with everyone. In the picture at the top I'm 1 or 2 years old I think. It was the 80's! They had color photo's back then :)
We had a kodak instant back in the 70's where you pulled the photo out from the side they we're incolour back then just not very cheap.
Being a father of 5 and an uncle of "Wait for it."
48 niece and nephews 12 great niece and nephews lol I am No.4 of 11 children 5 brothers 5 sisters
many children go through it don't worry and do what you have been doing and try not to push too hard.
Great jumper BTW =)
I was surprised too with the photo quality far back as the 80's. Back then in my place, journalist were still using pencil and paper to sketch events for newspapers and someone here were already playing around with colour photographs. Life is funny.
you looked the same like sam how cute that was and seems like sam is enjoying there no need to keep fingers crossed enjoy with sam :D
Baby Sam is a cute kid and I'm sure you are fond of him.
I must confess @exyle you are a crafty writer.
Keep it up
you might try a trick... lay on the floor with a toy on your chest and let him come to you... or something different than getting in his face. It may be your beard... try shaving it off... How fun do you want to be? LOL
I'll try that trick tomorrow. But the beard stays :)
Just imagine the impact of allowing Sam to watch you shave it! Talk about fun!
When Sam will be like you, He will become a great future. And to get used to eachother always takes some time. That belongs to building up a good relation which last for decades.
You will have a good saturday, full of joy and memorabel moments.
I remember last time you took care of baby Sam really well.He will stop being shy around you if you feed him some very delicious food and play with him. Maybe u can get him a new interesting toy or something :)
I'm not married yet, but already have 27 nephews. I am very happy to see and play with the kids. I really understand when you positioned mr @exyle The more he gets older the more the reason. Every child must be down his parent's genes, Like your son @babysam, he's a bit strange with you and that's natural for the child. If you want to be close to him, always be with him to get used to you. He will quickly realize that you are his father who is very fond of him.
Cute story. Glad you and Sam are now good buddies.
My son was just like that too, and he was like that till about 5 years old. He would not go anywhere without his mom, so when I was taking him for 1st day of kindergarten I was so afraid of what was going to happen, but it all went well and from that day he would slowly become more comfortable.
The story reveals your affection with beautiful kid "SAM" Hopefully saturday will be great day for you. All the best. Yes boy is looking great in your arm. you both are smiling means you have a great chemistry. :) All the best keep sharing @exyle
Geweldig man zo een kleine altijd even aftasten in het begin maar dan komen ze wel door.
Leuke foto en heb je eigenlijk zelf ook kids?
Ik heb er 1 van mijzelf en 2 geweldige stiefzoontjes waar ik heel blij mee ben!
Leuke blog geniet van je avond!
No, I don't have kids. Baby Sam is teaching me how this all works and Bianca is most of the time around for backup.
Great to hear that Sam will teach you.
I hope you enjoy it kids are great!
Kind regards,
Sam is very cute little boy. I wish I could be at his age again. No problems, I mean not adults problems. I’m certain Sam has his problems such as going to bed too early.
BTW: I was inspired by you latest recepy you posted. It was delicious.
Thank you!
This was from yesterday's post. If I can get mushroom here, I'll try it myself.
good to see you adapting with that. can take a lot man. nice one! :)
Thats cute story of yours mamma'sboy!😉
Apparently your sister is right it just a phase,& you will gel up with Sam as you spent quality time with him.hope the coming Saturday it is...Good luck 😊
Reflecting on our various years as kids usually leave us in much amazement, all the tantrums we exhibited for our parents and care givers, all those haughty attitudes and the likes. Whenever we see the six year olds, like Sam, we can only smile at them with reminiscence, knowing that we were once like them. Thanks @exyle
It's fun to see similar behaviour and instantly recognise it.
You look exactly the same like when you were a kid lol,
Maybe hair was a bit darker (I also was blond when I was a child).
Sams reaction... yeah that happened to me too, it will be fine after a while.
Yep, just a phase. We called it the "stranger danger" phase, although to be honest it isn't just strangers, but pretty much anyone not mom or dad. And for whatever reason (deep voices, beards, disdain for interior decoration) men are more feared.
I bet he's fine now. My daughter does it, its bizarre as she is really confident in most situations then with a relative she hasn't seen for a week she will hide behind my leg. I think I might have been the same!
I think thats right its like a phase I wasn't as bad but remember not really liking meeting any of my parents friends or just people I didn't know but I obviously grew out of it, I can see how it can get you down but hopefully it will be ok @exyle all the best.
I also had that same behavior and it lasted for many years, one day without realizing I had overcome it.
Thank you very much for sharing this wonderful story, these are the things that steemit is the best social network, the quality of people, human publications, makes everyone closer and yet we are so far away.
Your niece is beautiful
Excellent post dear friend @exyle
I wish you a wonderful day
Both of you will do fine! Don't worry so much. You are like two peas in a pod. One a little bigger than the other. He will probably do the same thing this time only for less time. Just love him to pieces when he does come around. That is what uncles do!
I'll do my best!
haha, nice story friend and it's true kids are sensitive but once they grew up they gain in confidence and starting to explore the world fearlessly, you are little late but i hope sam will gain confidence much quicker than you, i observe one thing in your childhood shot friend that your smile not changed, your smiling expressions are same like they were 31 years ago, so keep smiling friend and wish you a very joyful and cheerful week ahead, Stay awesome.
Baby sam back on the steemit yay :D
great to see the childhood pics so cute and love :D
My brother was left stranded at a science museum for awhile when e was about 5. It was crazy but luckily we found him.
I think getting someone new very difficult for some kids. My kid is ten years old, still doesn't get quite well with strangers. I'm sure once you get to know eachother, your nephew and you'll have wonderful time together.
You was a cute baby with sweet blue eyes 😍
good writing. love to read it. your baby is so cute. He is innocent - dinky. God bless your baby.
Dear @exyle, this post, and many more like this, is exactly why I mentioned you as an example in my latest post in which I explained 9 ways to choose the perfect niche for Steemit blog. Here's the snapshot of where you were mentioned. For all the right reasons.
May be your sis is right. It may just be a phase. Fears grow old and die as we grow older and live...
I had read that post recently..You are right,It is after reading your posts that I started following @exyle (Not just mere one,I have read almost all your posts!)
Very nic posts.
Nic kid.
i appreciate your work friend!
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nice stiry dear....
nice story dear....
that is nice blog of life
resteemit done
wow. you are quite good at writing i must say.
probably your glasses and long hairs scared him. lol
thanks for sharing with us @exyle
excellent story , nice writing post , thanks for sharing
resteemit done dear
This is very unique content.. i like this types of writing.. go on
woow very nice.... thanks for shareing...........
That baby look adorable! He reminds me of my little baby sisters haha
Look at those eyes...so pityful
Good post my friend.
Nice story dear :)