"All the Parks a Friend"

I  babysat another high-energy boy tonight. He was a very friendly (very friendly) 5 year old child.. And friendly children only have so much fun playing with a 16 year-old girl in their backyard, so after an hour we headed to the playground. On our way he saw a young boy, and he ran up to this boy and insisted that he come with us to the park- he did. So now I have two children. Once we got to the park other boys, young and old, shouted his name and said hi. I was slightly shocked that this 5 year-old was known by such a diverse crowd. The friendliness continued, this time with food.
I managed to collect a little pile of goodies that other people wanted to share with him. Since he is five, I only let him drink the juice-box (...sugar).
Summary of the snack pile:
Spicy lollipop- from a 4-year old boy
Oatmeal Cookie- from a teenager
Juice box- from a dad

But it doesn't stop there, the little boy was friends with a nice, Hispanic family who just happened to be having a cookout in the park. They warmly invited both of us to join them. The pool was getting cold, and he was not too excited about going home, so we accepted their offer. They cooked a big pot of corn on the cob. The lady served the corn by spreading mayo all over it and then dipping it into crumbled cheese. (Side note- I pointed to the crumbled cheese and asked ¿Qué es eso? and she said "queso." I paused, then it made me laugh).  They were a sweet family, and they invited us to also stay for helado (ice cream), but I had to kindly decline, because once again, I wasn't willing to risk giving the 5-year old any more sugar.

It was a fun night. I was able to speak very broken Spanish with the family for a bit while the kids played together, and they invited me to come visit them at the park again (so sweet of them).
Well, in conclusion, babysitting is great. Kids are great; they help and inspire me to become more bold and friendly.