The Big Bad Wolves

Since we're in a new town, going to a new gym, will be traveling this summer and Nigel will start preschool this fall, we're starting to address some of The Big Bad Wolves that come up in a kid's life. First up, STRANGER DANGER. A few months ago we got Never Talk to Strangers from the library to get the dialogue flowing. It's a light, silly story that was good for his age. I'm thinking we might want to move on to some different books, such as The Berenstain Bears Learn about Strangers and Who is a Stranger and What Should I Do. It's a tricky topic since we don't really know anyone here and are constantly meeting "strangers." And of course, we don't want to freak him out so much that he's afraid of everyone.

Along those same lines, we've also been talking about PRIVATE PARTS around here. We haven't read any books on the subject yet, but I might look for Your Body Belongs to You at the library. I've mostly just been sprinkling in mentions of it during potty time or after bath. We talk about appropriate touching (bath and help with potty), who can touch (him, the doc, me and Tim, sometimes LaLa, maybe his preschool teacher) and who can't (strangers and other key people who have raised red flags in my mind). I'm not sure if that's enough, though. The way I tag it on to conversations so casually reminds me of this totally hilarious song from a recent episode of Modern Family — so much so that I've actually played the clip for Nigel:

Take a bite of apple, take a bite of a pear
Take a bite of the cookie that you left over there.
Here’s one thing you should never do:
Don’t bite Taylor, or Brandon, or Sue!
Because people aren’t rude; people aren’t food.
Your friends will run away if they’re scared of being chewed.
And as a side note, private parts are private.

We've also started to talk about TORNADOES since that's now an inevitable part of our Texas lives. Tornado watches and warnings are common here during the spring. In fact, in 2000, a deadly tornado ripped through downtown across the river from Tim's office. And just last night, North Texas was hit by 4 tornadoes, including one in Dallas. You can read more about it here. So the danger exists. Each Wednesday at 1 p.m., tornado sirens ring throughout Fort Worth as a test. This week, I've started to explain to Nigel that tornadoes are dangerous, which is proving to be more difficult that I expected because he's seen Elmo "ride" a tornado in this video. To keep it kind of fun, I've told him he can be the siren helper (help us listen out for the sirens) and that when the siren goes off we'll make a pillow fort in the hall with our flashlights. My main hope is that by talking about it he'll be less freaked out when it happens.

How have you addressed The Big Bad Wolves in your child's life?