`git help ignore` has this to say about trailing slashes:

> If the pattern ends with a slash, it is removed for the purpose of
> the following description, but it would only find a match with a
> directory. In other words, foo/ will match a directory foo and
> paths underneath it, but will not match a regular file or a
> symbolic link foo (this is consistent with the way how pathspec
> works in general in Git).

Sure enough, having manually performed the same steps as this test,
`git status` tells us the following:

	# On branch master
	#
	# Initial commit
	#
	# Changes to be committed:
	#   (use "git rm --cached <file>..." to unstage)
	#
	#	new file:   force.txt
	#
	# Untracked files:
	#   (use "git add <file>..." to include in what will be committed)
	#
	#	../.gitignore
	#	child1/
	#	child2/

i.e. neither child1 nor child2 is ignored.