The afternoon before last our office held an Open House. We invited the public to visit our new office building, take a tour, have a few refreshments (tea or punch and snacks-it was still during the work day), and say hello to some of us who were helping and some who were working. It was fun and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves a great deal.

The building is shaped like a capital H. My office is in the far top, right corner. As I was walking down the hall with a couple of our guests, a group came around the corner headed my way. This particular group had several young children in it. Out of nowhere came this charming child who ran down the hall grabbed my legs about knee height and hung on. At first I thought maybe I looked like her Mom, but I realized her Mom was 10 feet behind her. I leaned down and asked if I could pick her up. She said, "sure."

I asked her name and it was one I hadn't heard before, "Malachy" she said. Obviously she was having a wonderful time and she hadn't even found the cookies yet.

"How old are you Malachy?" I asked. She held up three fingers. Her mother came up saying, "she doesn't seem to meet a stranger."

In a couple mintues Malachy was ready to get down. I walked over to our Chief Probation Officer just as Malachy launched herself into someone else's knees. Linda looked at me and said, "I think we need to teacher a bit about danger with strangers." She was right, but with this one I didn't think it was going to take. She was having much to much fun getting to know everyone in the place.

It's a great deal of fun to watch children especially little ones. They have few inhibitions and the world is a wonderful place to be. I know we need to keep them safe from harm, but I do so hate to put a damper on their wonderful energy and enthusiasm. I sincerely hope little Malachy keeps hers.