Tales from the road: NYC

H and C are two of my favorite people from my time in New York. Both insanely smart, pretty, and possessing the sharpest wit known to mankind, they are basically the coolest couple you'd ever want to meet. H was one of my best girlfriends in the city, and I always joked to the guys that I dated that if we ever had to become swingers, that I would want this couple to be on board and induct us into the lifestyle. (Usually this comment was met by a nervous, confused laugh. The fact that most of these guys didn't realize that this was my way of paying a high compliment, but that I was essentially joking, was symptomatic of our eventual demise. But, I digress.)

Four years ago, H and C spawned Sam, who has since become one of the coolest little kids ever. Now, I have never been much for children. I just don't get them. I do not possess the ability to talk to them on their level, I don't really care how their day at school has been, or the name of the toy that they are carrying... it's just not my thing. Whenever I encounter a child younger than thirteen, we usually just end up staring at each other awkwardly until I finally end up saying something like "Hey, kid. How's it goin'?" At this point the kid usually gives up and walks away from me, and I am left affirmed in my conclusion that kids just aren't for me.

But these past few days, I realized that maybe those cases were just symptomatic of my relationship with the kid's parents. Most of my exposure to children has been at forced family dinners where, in reality, I couldn't relate to most of the people there, least of all the little ones. But these past few days, I had an absolute blast with H, C, and Sam. I loved watching them interact with him, and my heart melted every time he addressed me directly. We spent hours in the park, walked all over the city, and hung out drinking wine and eating cheese, and I not only cherished the time I got to spend catching up with them, but was totally awed and inspired watching how great they were with the kid, and the values that they were patiently and purposely instilling.

I had a great few days in New York catching up with a lot of good friends, but I think that what I will take away from the trip the most is this - I can be a kid person after all. Assuming the kids have awesome parents, that is.