{"id":39588,"date":"2026-05-25T01:02:30","date_gmt":"2026-05-25T06:02:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/davidmcelroy.org\/?p=39588"},"modified":"2026-05-25T01:02:30","modified_gmt":"2026-05-25T06:02:30","slug":"childrens-affection-can-turn-a-lousy-day-into-a-reason-to-smile","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/davidmcelroy.org\/?p=39588","title":{"rendered":"Children\u2019s affection can turn a lousy day into a reason to smile"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I was in a lousy mood by the time I arrived at a fast food place for dinner late Sunday. I hadn\u2019t finished with clients until around 9:30 p.m. and I was annoyed by several things that had happened earlier.<\/p>\n

Nothing much had gone right for me Sunday. I considered it a bad day.<\/p>\n

I had been seated alone for a few minutes when I heard an excited high-pitched voice call my name.<\/p>\n

\u201cDavid!\u201d called out 11-year-old Sophie, who ran over to my table to hug me. \u201cI didn\u2019t know you would be here!\u201d<\/p>\n

She was genuinely excited. It turned out that her mother had some business to take care of and she brought Sophie \u2014 and younger brother, Noah \u2014 for the trip.<\/p>\n

Sophie ran back to the table where she had left her purse and a book. She told her 6-year-old brother, who came running.<\/p>\n

\u201cMr. David!\u201d called out Noah.<\/p>\n

He jumped into the seat where I was sitting and wrapped his arms around me. He was very happy and didn\u2019t want to let go.<\/p>\n

I know the children’s parents and I sold the family a house a few years ago. I still see them occasionally — and the kids always know I’m eager to see them and give them attention. I bring them small treats from time to time when I know we’re going to be in the same place.<\/p>\n

I always talk to Sophie about what she’s been reading. Noah always wants to play. His little battery never seems to run down. He\u2019s a rambunctious 6-year-old who never wants me to stop with whatever ridiculous games we come up with to play.<\/p>\n

Tonight, Sophie wanted to talk about Persephone, from Greek mythology. She had just run into a reference that said Persephone had been\u00a0a princess — and this new information seemed fascinating to her.<\/p>\n

Their mother briefly stopped by to make sure they weren’t bothering me.<\/p>\n

“Noah is hurting me,” I jokingly told her of the child in my arms.<\/p>\n

“I can tell,” she said with a big smile as she moved back to her business.<\/p>\n

I probably spent half an hour with Sophie and Noah. Then I had to leave since I still had things to get done. Both of the kids gave me hugs as I left.<\/p>\n

As I walked toward my car, I realized how different I felt than when I had walked in less than an hour before.<\/p>\n

My facial muscles were a little sore from smiling so much. My heart felt fuller. My steps seemed lighter. I felt happier.<\/p>\n

The things that had happened earlier in the day — the things that annoyed me — didn’t change. I was still frustrated about them.<\/p>\n

But I felt entirely different now.<\/p>\n

It wasn’t a bad day. It was a really good day.<\/p>\n

Because Sophie and Noah were happy to see me. Their attention and affection had turned my gloom into serenity.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I was in a lousy mood by the time I arrived at a fast food place for dinner late Sunday. I hadn\u2019t finished with clients until around 9:30 p.m. and I was annoyed by several things that had happened earlier. Nothing much had gone right for me Sunday. I considered it a bad day. I Keep Reading<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-39588","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-uncategorized","entry"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1x9iR-aiw","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/davidmcelroy.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39588","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/davidmcelroy.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/davidmcelroy.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/davidmcelroy.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/davidmcelroy.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=39588"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/davidmcelroy.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39588\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":39593,"href":"https:\/\/davidmcelroy.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39588\/revisions\/39593"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/davidmcelroy.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=39588"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/davidmcelroy.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=39588"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/davidmcelroy.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=39588"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}