Kids are Different

A few weeks ago, I was walking from the courthouse to my office with a client. He's about 14 and, like a number of my clients, he has ADHD. So, here we are, walking along, having an intelligent discussion about how he can prepare for his disposition hearing when, all of a sudden, he leaps into the air and jumps right into a huge puddle, splashing the dirty water all over me. Luckily, I was wearing black tights and houndstooth-type suit so it didn't really show up. He immediately stopped, looked at me with his big eyes, his hand over his mouth, and said, "Oops. I meant to jump over it." I just burst out laughing, called him a liar, and on we went, to the office. Can you imagine an adult client ever doing something like that? Can you imagine ever thinking that having someone jump in a puddle and splash dirty water all over your suit being one of the sweetest, most endearing moments of your job? I couldn't either, but it absolutely was. It was just one of those moments that reminded me how having kids for clients is different. Sometimes, that difference makes things worse. But more times than not, it makes things better. They have a way of crawling right into your heart and making you love them, no matter how many times they screw things up.