Dora Doesn't Meet A Stranger

I was talking with my friends the other night about strangers. The topic came up because we were discussing how Oprah has all of a sudden started hunting down sexual predators, and we were actually pretty happy about it. But we were also scared. I know the chances of our kids being taken from our front yards are very slim, but even a slim chance makes us a little nervous. One of my friends said she spoke to her eldest son about strangers and what to do if one asks him for help.

"How did you get him to listen?" I asked, because Lily is not a great listener. Sure, she'll start to listen, but sadly she has the attention span of a hummingbird.

"We made a game out of it," she said. She told me she would practice with her son and pretend to be a stranger. "Hey, little boy, would you help me find my puppy?" she asks him. "No! You're a stranger! HELP!" he yells.

I loved it. What a great way to teach your kids about not going anywhere with strangers, I thought.

Well, every other kid except Lily.

"Lily, do you want to play a game?" I asked her.

"Sure!" she said.

"Okay. First I'm going to tell you about strangers." I told her all about how there are lots of different people in the world and how some people are nice and some are not as nice, and how some seem nice but aren't.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"Well, you know how Cinderella's stepsisters seemed nice at first, but really they were very mean to Cinderella?" (Lily never realized those women were bitches until I pointed it out one day while watching the video).

"Yes?"

"Well, some people are like that. They are just not very nice. They seem nice, but they are not. And they can hurt you."

She looked at me, horrified.

I cleared my throat. "So are you ready to play now?"

"Yes!"

"Okay. I'll pretend to be a stranger. Now here's the deal. You never want to go with strangers anywhere unless Mommy or Daddy is with you. So now let's pretend, I'm a stranger." I put on my best male voice and said, "Hello little girl, what's your name?"

"My name's Lily," she said, beaming.

"Lily, would you like to help me find my puppy?"

"Sure!"

"No!" I said, shaking my head. Lily stared blankly at me, confused by my reaction. "Lily, you don't go with him just because he wants you to help him find a puppy. In fact, you don't go with anyone unless Mommy is with you, remember?"

She nodded. "Shall we try this again?" Again, she nodded.

"Okay. Hi little girl, what's your name?"

"Lily."

"Lily, you're very sweet. Would you like to come and play with me in the car?"

"Sure!"

We're working on a new game now.