Not killing small children; a kiter's guide

I went kiting yesterday. I went kiting the day before, but on the day before I wasn't approached by a small child, wearing a badge that said '5'. When you're flying a 6.3 sq.m kite, capable of lifting your weight (in my case around 90kg) and more in the right wind, and you're flying it in that right wind, a child that weighs around 7 kg offering to help launch the kite can be a little worrying. When the kite is dragging you forward, much as you try to stay still, the same child standing directly in front of you can also be worrying. The fact that a child is able to just wander along and come and say hi, when she's only 5, and when she has only a vague idea of which direction she should walk to get back to her parents, is also a little concerning. Even so, it really made my day.

She very quickly understood that standing in front of me was a bad idea. She also managed to actually help launch the kite, by holding one end of it up, to catch the wind (mostly children wanting to help get to hold the kite as the adult launches it, but she actually made it easier). And her parents seemed to be pretty easy going. We had a conversation about how the kite could probably pick her up and take her 25 metres into the sky. Dad said 'Well, she'd probably really enjoy it'. I said 'Yes, on the way up...'. As they left, she insisted on coming to say bye-bye to her new friend, and I picked her up by the wrists and put her down again, which she seemed to enjoy. Hopefully there'll be another kite enthusiast in ten or so years' time. And it kind of makes me think that one day I might be lucky enough to make little powerkiters of my own...