my daughters, like most kids, do not easily warm up to strangers. there are techniques to make kids warm up to an adult - they vary from kid to kid but a curt hello and ignoring them usually work.
dancing the ocho-ocho DOES NOT work, as a colleague found out last year. until now, gab refuses to make friends with him even though he gives her pasalubongs. "i hate tito ____ forever more," said gab.
so i was pleasantly surprised when gab became instant friends with tonypet, pia arcangel's partner on "art angel" during their first meeting. i guess the key was tonypet's soft voice, persistence and attempts to bribe my kids with brownies, art angel souvenir water bottles and an eat-all-you-can mongolian barbecue lunch (though they didnt eat that much).
even before the mongolian barbecue lunch, gab was already hugging and holding hands with tonypet. and before they left to go home, the kids even gave him a goodbye kiss.
