We Got You on Camera, You Little Troublemaker!

During this fun and joyful visit, my colleague, Dr. Kakashni, and I were dancing and singing in the hallway when we knocked on the door of one of the rooms.

A beautiful little girl came out, with a very special laugh. She looked at us, then ran to her father at the other end of the room and said:

“Dad! They’re here, they’re here! Take a picture of them!”

Her father welcomed us warmly and said, “Come in,” while picking up his phone and starting to record.

The little girl sat on the bed and excitedly called out:

“Come in, come on!”

I entered with perhaps a little too much enthusiasm, gently jumping around and spinning.

That was enough to annoy Dr. Kakashni, which immediately made the little girl laugh.

“He’s already being naughty!” she said.

When Dr. Kakashni started introducing us, I kept interrupting her without meaning to, getting excited as I talked to the little girl and her father.

And so, the “problem” kept getting bigger.

The bigger my mischief became, the louder the little girl’s laughter grew.

I kept coming up with new ways to be a troublemaker until she finally looked at me and said:

“Okay, enough, you troublemaker!”

She slapped her hand against her head in a hilarious gesture, looking both annoyed and completely amused at the same time.

Then she turned to her father and asked:

“You’re recording this, right, Dad?”

By then, she was laughing so hard that she started jumping on the bed, still telling me:

“Enough! Be quiet and calm down, you troublemaker!”

This made Dr. Kakashni’s reaction even funnier. She decided it was time to put an end to my “troublemaking” and quickly escorted me out of the room!

I made my exit as quickly—and as comically—as possible, while the little girl continued laughing behind me.

But the story didn’t end at the door.

She followed us into the hallway, pretending to be angry while laughing, and called out:

“You’re a troublemaker! A biiig troublemaker! But you make me laugh sooo much!”

We continued down the hallway until we reached the far end.

Then suddenly, I heard her calling my name.

I turned around.

She shouted from a distance, laughing:

“We got you on camera, you troublemaker!”

And her laughter filled the hallway.

In that moment, I realized that I had been more than just a “troublemaker” to her.

For a few minutes, I had simply been someone who made her laugh.

And sometimes, that is all we need to do.

To be a little mischievous…

so that a child can have a really big laugh.