"Do you want to say hi?" It's simple, it's nice, it makes Cicily relatable.
For the past 7 years I've tried out many tricks to get people to move on when they're staring at Cicily. I've smiled back, ignored, made silly faces, given evil looks, etc. Sadly I used to find evil looks to be the most effective! ;{ Until a couple months ago, I asked a small kid who couldn't keep her eyes off of Cicily if she wanted to say hi to her. At first she was startled that she'd been caught and that I'd talked to her, but then she smiled and said hi to Cicily and then walked away. Since then I've tried it numerous times and it works! Most kids will say hi and walk away, some look embarrassed, and some say hi and then ask their questions that we're happy to answer. Cicily likes it because she loves to interact with people!! Most of the time this seems to help the child realize that Cicily is just a kid too. Once we've started a conversation with someone, I always like asking them what their favorite color is or how old they are or what they like to play and then telling them about Cicily's favorite color, age or activity.
Phew, 7 years in the making and I figured it out! Now if I can just find something that works on those pesky adults....
