This post brought to you by Allstate. All opinions are 100% mine.
There is a fine line between being careful and being fearful. Between teaching a child and scaring a child. A fine line we parents walk every day. When said child is naturally more cautious and a bit fearful to begin with, that line is thin and blurry.
“Mommy a little boy said hi to me and wanted to talk to me, but I didn’t want to because I know I am not supposed to talk to strangers.”
See, blurry fine line.
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The little boy in question was about 5-6 years old and he was waiting in line with his family next to ours at the store. Not the threat I had in mind when I taught K not to talk to strangers. For that matter, how about all of those well-meaning store clerks, friendly mothers and other passerbyers who say hi to K and her sister? Not what I meant either.
K loves to make new friends, and within the safe confines of the school playground she does so frequently and easily. She’s a chatterbox who unabashedly wants to be friends with everyone she meets — as long as the meeting is on her terms and in a comfortable situation that is. But approach her at the wrong time or place, even family reunions, and she clams up.
So while the threat of dangerous strangers is out there, I choose to focus on good strangers. While emphasizing safety, never go anywhere with a stranger, I encourage a polite “Hello” and a smile. There are so many good people in the world, I don’t want my girls to be fearful of life. I want them to live, make new friends and focus on the good.
Allstate Good Life has the same philosophy. Sure, you could get into a wreck on your way to work or tree could fall on your house. But that is probably not going to happen. So why live in fear? It’s time to enjoy the good life. Rather than fearing what could happen, let’s embrace living life. Let’s smile and say hello to strangers, maybe we will even brighten someone’s day. If nothing else, we might make a new friend or go on a grand adventure.
Watch this video to see what I mean.
How do you celebrate the good life?
Brett says
Your k sounds like my m. We had a hard hard time with the same blurry line. I love this campaign of allstates
Amanda says
I totally agree! It is such an awesome way to look at life. We have this day only once, we need to use it to the full!
Have Sippy Will Travel Mommy Blogger says
the talking to strangers thing is tough to “get”
Emily says
Great point! I have thought before about how “stranger danger’ can be counter productive. There are tons of great strangers out there and while its important to try and keep our kids safe, I think some people take stranger danger too far, to where it’s impossible to make new friends or even be reasonably polite to strangers which isn’t right, in my opinion.
Greta says
Stranger Danger is such a fine line. Like emily said, there are tons of great strangers out there, but there are quite a few kooks that look & seem harmless.
Rebecca Xavier says
We celebrate the good life by teaching our children to be polite but cautious around strangers.
Paula V says
You make a great point and some times it can be difficult to explain those fine line to the little ones minds.
Julie Wood says
Yes, I do not want to live in fear because of strangers. It is okay to say Hello to a stranger, but we have to be careful in today’s world because of all the crime. Just the other day, in the City where I live, someone was trying to help a man when another man came out of the bushes and robbed them! We just have to be careful is all I am saying!
alicia k (Petite Pilates Pixie) says
what a great way to view life!! love it.
Denise Taylor-Dennis says
You bring up some great points. You don’t want your kids to be too extremely fearful and cautious, I agree it is a fine line.
Olivia Rubin says
When I worked with the adult MR/DD my job as the social worker was to teach them about personal space and who to let in. Tis can be difficult with adults who are developmentally still a child. We did a circle program, where there were 6 circles, each with there own color. The outer circle was red and this was for true strangers, the next inner circle was for store clerks, postal workers…people you are familiar with and can smile or wave, but that’s it. It progresses to friends, relatives, family, boyfriend/girlfriend, and self
Janet W. says
There really is a fine line and it’s hard to explain. It’s not fun living your life in fear.
Sarah L says
I err on the side of thinking good of everyone til proven otherwise.
Tina says
This is so very true. If we live life in fear everyday we would never do anything or go anywhere. So I totally agree with you. Thank you for sharing this very informative article.
Christian Alejandro says
I like your way of thinking! It is important to be polite to strangers. There really are a lot of good people out there.
amanda roach says
love tis post..tomorrow is never promised.
stephanie says
great post!!!
Ashley says
Stranger danger is a hard concept to teach. My son has learned self defense and how to identify potential good strangers and bad strangers. It’s something we keep revisiting because it’s so important not to forget it!
Susan Smith says
There really is a fine line and it can be hard to explain to children. I have taught my children to be polite but cautious around strangers.
heather says
It’s important to teach kids how to be safe from an early age, so they understand the danger but can still be friendly and kind.
Richard Hicks says
I give all benefit of doubt until they ruin it.
Amanda Sakovitz says
Love this post and I couldn’t agree more that there are tons of wonderful people out there but its important to be safe
Yadira Juarez says
I loved the Claudia episode, she put her baby’s needs first.
Yadira Juarez says
These mom’s have made the ultimate sacrifice & showed true love.