The Kindness of Listening to Children

"Listening is a magnetic and strange thing, a creative force.  The friends who listen to us are the ones we move toward.  When we are listened to, it creates us, makes us unfold and expand."
~ Karl A. Menninger

I have a dear friend who has an amazing capacity to listen to children.  I am always struck by her conversations with my children.  She will ask them about school, about their friends, about what they like to do...  And then she really listens.  Unfortunately, she does not live in town, but every time she visits, her kindness leaves a lasting impression on my children.  So it is not surprising that days after she has left, my children are still talking about her and saying that they miss her.