My 19 month old toddler is a very affectionate little lady. Ever since learning to walk she has handed out cuddles and displays of affection to whomever she feels like loving, usually random strangers. This is a practice we are now very familiar with.

We arrived in CH last week and already our little lady has given several Random Acts of Love (RALs).

Firstly the Cashier in Coop. We have visited the local supermarket every other day and seen the same lady working there on each visit. To my toddler that means we must be related and so a RAL deemed necessary. Upon entering the supermarket for the fourth time my toddler ran over to the Coop lady and wrapped her arms around her legs in a warm embrace. The Coop lady was startled and embarrassed but returned the love eventually. I watched the situation behind the safety of my sunglasses, and then laughed with the Coop lady and pretended to understand what she was saying in response to my daughters RAL. We have been back to Coop since and greeted with smiles and a wave from all the staff.

Secondly our immediate neighbour: I approached him whilst he was mowing his lawn and made an introduction. We had a brief conversation in English (his choice of language). Queue RAL from my toddler. Neighbour was rather surprised to find a strange little person wrapped around his legs but it seemed to break the ice and we have been invited around for drinks to welcome us to the neighbourhood.

Thirdly, whilst walking in the woods be came across a refuge. A lady was making preparations for a party. My dog decided to do the British thing and ran over to introduce himself. I followed to retrieve him and the lady and I exchanged "bonjour"s. My daughter introduced herself with big cuddle, much to the lady's delight. She cuddled my daughter with great affection and handed us some crisps for her to munch on for the rest of our walk.

RALs have also been carried out in the Commune, Post Office and park. I'm not sure whether the whole village thinks we are a family of free loving hippies or just a bit odd but we seem to be being accepted so far...

Free hugs rock.

this vvv is what i originally thought,




but i agree with UM, free hugs rock

Not in Zurich. You should charge for them.

That's such a lovely post. Thanks for sharing and reminding me that it happened to me once from a very affectionate toddler.

Her father was so embarrassed and apologetic as it all happened so fast and he didn't get to her in time before she partially lifted my maxi skirt to get to a leg.

Ok not worked out how to thank people for their posts (or how to turn predictive spelling off) just yet, but thank you and free hugs to you all

I like hugs

Just wait until you have made ten posts, and the button will appear.

You clearly need some.

Lovely, glad hugs were well received. I love it here that you can smile to a child, talk to them even, about their teddy or pet, or little baby sisters, etc- without parents starring at you and violently pulling child back- lest you be some sort of peodo, as used to happen in the UK, sadly.

Wow, I'm so pleased to read this. My two year old daughter does exactly the same thing! In her case, she usually spots a "victim" while we are at the checkout counter or at the airport or in any queue of sorts. The "victim" I have come to note is usually a lady aged above 40 (just a rough guess!). Once victim has been identified, she (my daughter) trots off and introduces herself. When I say introduce, I mean a barrage of fairly incomprehensible "German-english" mix which I now call Germglish.

She then launches into a full conversation with the unsuspecting female who by this time is rather amused and looking around to see where the parents of the child are. In most cases. which is actually beautiful to watch, the "victims" play along with the conversation despite not understanding a word, and even start playing little games with her. Usually, the queue moves along and the nice "victim" has to leave and guess what, my daughter tags along, usually still in conversation/play without even a backward glance for mummy..unbelievable! Finally a combination of the "victim" asking her to return to her mummy and me waving her favorite bear at her is required to do the trick!

It is nice to see the innocence of a little child and to see how an encounter with one brings out the child in most of us. I am glad we are in Switzerland, where I can allow my daughter the freedom to express herself (like I did when I was her age in a different place and different time) without a worry for her safety.

M

I'll keep that in mind next time I see you.