Campfires, Children, and Me
The fire crackled in the growing night and there was something completely decadent about the French-pressed coffee, the slightly burned marshmallows being sandwiched between chocolate and graham crackers, and the laughter of children being allowed a few wild moments. The temperature was just cool enough to be refreshing and the heat of the fire, warming. My hiking boots sat beside me like an old friend as my feet also enjoyed the feeling of air and heat. All was well on this twilight time of day. It had been a moderate day hike; just challenging enough that it felt good to stretch out and just sit for a while. My group was all amenable to one another and our campfire showed the remains of a day well spent.
As the sun set on this little picture, just as it was getting dark, I noticed several of the wild children were settling down, chocolate smeared faces and all - only, they were beginning to settle down around me. Someone had told them I am a hypnotist. There were the choruses of “hypnotize me” and suddenly they were asking a thousand questions and trying desperately to get their parents to consent to letting me hypnotize them. They ranged from eight year-olds to prepubescent teens.
“Pleeeeaaaassseee, Ellie. PLEASE. I have wanted to be hypnotized for so long.”
And so, I tried to answer their questions and bow out of hypnotizing this little mass, opting instead to do a “good night story” (do you see where I was headed?). Nope. And the more I answered questions, the more a feeling of their disillusionment crept in upon me. Yes, I know, prime opportunity to dispel some myths, and try though I did, once again I found myself in the position of people wanting me to do parlor tricks. If you have been reading this blog long, you may remember that at some point, we had talked about actually using such moments to our advantage in adult parties. But I have never been in a position of dealing with children like this.
Finally, my partner got me out of it by telling the children this was my day off. You don’t see us asking their father to perform brain surgery here, do you?
So just when I had thought I could deal well with adults in this situation, it hits at a different angle. I had thought about showing them how it works by using a fellow hiker, but they were all too comfortable to consent. And many said it would egg on the children more.
So, hypnotists who are parents out there, surely I am not alone in such experiences. How have you dealt with this?
