STRANGERS

Yesterday, I was buckling you into your car seat, in front of the daycare, when a young Asian fellow and his friend walked up (very close) and asked me something. The fellow couldn't speak English very well, but he was being very polite (other than getting WAY into my personal space, which, if you know me, is a much larger comfort zone than most people's). He was lost and trying to figure out how to get just down the street, as it turned out.

When I got into the car, this conversation took place:

Weeb: Mummy, that was a STRANGER!
Mummy: Yes, he was a stranger and - *interrupted*
Weeb: I PUNCH AND KICK HIM!
Mummy: *trying not to laugh* He was not a BAD stranger Weeb. He was very nice and was lost and just asking for directions.
Weeb: I don't talk to strangers, right, Mummy?
Me: No Weeb, you don't talk to strangers. Good remembering! NO stranger will EVER have to talk to a kid. It is okay for strangers to talk to adults, but only to adults. What do you say if a stranger talks to you?
Weeb: I say NO, YOU'RE NOT MY MUMMY OR DADDY!
Mummy: *trying not to laugh again* Very good remembering, Weeb! What you should say, if they are acting nice, is, *I put up my hand in my stop pose*, "Please talk to an adult!" And then you run to an adult that you know.
Weeb: PLEASE TALK TO AN ADULT!
Mummy: Good job, baby! (I have to stop calling her that!)

Mummy: Weeb, what would you do if a stranger told you that his puppy was lost and he needed help finding his puppy?
Weeb: I would help him find his puppy. Poor lost puppy!
Mummy: No Weeb, no stranger will EVER ask a kid to help find his puppy! That stranger is tricking you! You yell PLEASE ASK AN ADULT and then run to an adult that you know! (I don't know what the hell to teach here!)
Weeb: Strangers are tricky! (we've talked about tricky strangers before.)
Mummy: Some strangers are nice, but the MEAN strangers are very tricky. NO stranger will EVER ask a kid for help Weeb. Strangers should only talk to adults, not to kids, not ever!

We've also talked about how nobody is EVER allowed to hurt you. Nobody is EVER allowed to touch you in ways that you don't like. Your private spots are private and for you only! On and on this teaching goes.

We have been teaching you that if someone tries to take you, you are allowed to be as bad as you can be, scream and yell and punch and hit and bite so that other people can come help her. Other strangers. See where this conversation leads? We've been really enforcing that not ALL strangers are bad, but that bad strangers are very tricky and will try to trick us and they will hurt us so we have to be very smart.

We've even taught you how to hold your hand up in a stop motion and say, "STOP, I DO NOT LIKE WHAT YOU ARE DOING," even if it's to kids at school.

I hope we're not creating a monster here, though I'd much rather a bit of a monster kid than a kid who ends up missing or hurt. With any luck, you'll never experience one of these tricky monsters.