Well, I feel obligated to share this.
This is taken from my diary a few weeks ago, and it answers this question. It is unedited and I really donut care.
Today my friend and I walked her dog and a little boy rushed up to us. I'm thinking, "Oh boy... I hope her dog doesn't get all defensive and shit," Since it's not my dog and every dog is different.
Her dog is old and blind and super sweet, but being old and blind he is extremely clumsy and cautious. Now, we're expecting this boy to rush up to the dog. He's running, sprinting, with all his might, and much to our surprise, he runs right past the dog, spins around, and says, "I bet your dog didn't expect that!"
I quipped, "Lil' homie, even we weren't anticipating that."
And then I proceeded to give a really, child-friendly lecture about how to approach a dog and to always ask the owner if it is okay to pet said dog. Then we talked about dogs for ten minutes, to which he says his friend has experienced a dog bite. I said, "So have I, in the face,". This kid got on the same level, as I questioned him, inquisitive and child-engaging questions, and got to the point where he's nodding and answering questions, but never did I mock him or scold him.
He was absolutely adorable to the extreme, totally adorable, omg (I love kids, they're absolutely precious and so very important), and his friends?? Sisters?? Came over and I quickly recapped dog safety 101 with them, and they were in awe.
My friend also interjected as well to help the learning process.
Well, we get on the same page as much as kids and adults can be on the same page, and their father comes out and the little boy introduces his father to us, and my friend introduces herself, we have a name to a face now, good for them, and we're talking about dogs and dog safety.
Now, let me make something clear, this kid was sliding around on the railing that was about 6ft high, more than high for this kid to fall and crack his skull open. Now, I don't say anything since that's the parents job, but what does he stick on? They were in the mud. Playing in the mud.
While he's scolding them and scaring them with "the property managers will get really, really mad at you for what you've done!" the oldest sister/friend looks up at me and I made the slightest face ever of "Nahhh" and gave her a small wink and she giggled and nodded ever so slightly, perceptive, definitely also equally adorable.
So then the man turns to me and my friend as if to get backup with playing in the mud. Now, I played in the mud ALL. THE. TIME. as a kid, in fact one time I was walking through the mud in new shoes (a trend I tended to have in a developing neighborhood) and came to the realization, "Hey, maybe I shouldn't do this anymore" and I didn't.
But while he's asking for back-up from us, I said, in a silly tone, "Definitely don't play in the mud before supper!" (trying to be all folksy and shit). And the kids giggled and the dad lightened up a little.
We started talking, talking about where I live and that I almost moved into the same apartment complex, but we chose to not do so due to $$$. I also said that "there are a lot of... unsavory characters where I live" and he said he grew up out where I am and so he knows. And then, dude, this whole time I'm trying to be super PC, he's like, "Yeah, one time..." and he tells this story about some drunk kids hanging around his apartment, and they were banging on his door, etc.
And then he saw one of them "through the peep-hole all hunched over, saying "come on out, come on out" and I almost got my gun to open the door and shoot him to teach him a lesson" and this trailed off from here, and I kinda looked at him with a bemused expression, and I said, "Yeah, but that's not safe for anybody. You always want to de-escalate the situation if possible, and always call the police if you sense danger."
Then we went on our way, and I turned to my friend and said, "That was a really weird experience for me." and it was. I explained that I realized that as an adult, I have a duty to educate, without persecution and scolding, to ensure the safety of future encounters.
And also, if I didn't educate them on dog safety, who knows what could've potentially happened in the future. I could have potentially saved him or his friend from a dog-bite. And I mentioned to my friend, what an odd feeling it was, to realize that being an adult means you have to educate those around you, especially children. And it's weird educating children you don't know, because you don't know if their parent is going to go ape-shit.v
And I didn't realize it at the time, but as I re-told the story to my bf and my friends SO, they were like, "Wow, you ended up being a super adult toward the kids, and their parent."