Mommy, is it okay to say please and thank you?

Website design By BotEap.comThe other day I was in a furniture store and my daughter said she had to use the bathroom, as we were going into the bathroom a woman was coming out. As she passed by my daughter, she commented on her hairstyle and said that she was very pretty. Obviously this woman was a stranger and she wasn’t a friend of the family, but she didn’t seem dangerous, so I told my daughter to thank her. After being in the bathroom I had time to think about what had just happened. I just told my daughter that it’s okay for her to talk to strangers.

Website design By BotEap.comNow this is my question to you, what would you have done? We pass people complimenting our kids and even stopping and acknowledging their outfit or something else that deserves attention, but how do you teach your kids to be polite without falling prey to the dangerous people out there? Of course my daughter felt safe because I was next to her but what if she is at school or in a playground, how do we teach them to discriminate because that’s the way it is. They are allowed to talk to strangers when you, the parent, are present, but are expected not to when you are not. What kind of mixed signals are we sending? If I were a kid in this day and age, I’d be so confused as to who I’m supposed to be and how I’m supposed to act.

Website design By BotEap.comNow I will never admit to being the best parent but I do the best I can with what I was taught with some revisions. One thing I try not to do is say my daughter’s name in places we frequent, like supermarkets, grocery stores, the laundromat, the park, and other places in the neighborhood. I’m not perfect at it, but I’m trying to get better. I do this for obvious reasons, people here are more likely to see me or my children more than once. The easiest way to make a child trust you is to call him by his name! I just got a chill that was so scary! This includes nicknames!

Website design By BotEap.comNone of my family members are called by their first names, growing up was interesting, I knew if a phone call received at work was business or personal who they were asking about, and to top it off, if they used my middle name, I knew they were a friend , but if they used my nickname, I knew they were related or close enough to be considered related.

Website design By BotEap.comSo to sum this up, let’s make better choices to protect our children from the unknown, whether it seems threatening or not.

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