As parents, we teach our children safety from a young age. Don't touch the stove it's hot, don't climb on things or you'll fall, look both ways before crossing the street. One thing I think EVERY parent makes sure their child is aware of is stranger danger. How do they differentiate between safety and manners, though?
When my six-year-old, Dominic, was younger he would hear someone at the door and go running to open it by himself. It took a while for me to get through to him that he shouldn't answer the door unless an adult is present. Fast forward to present day. He now knows to always ask who is at the door, and to get permission to open it. Normally, if it is someone we don't know I answer the door myself, because it is usually a salesperson or a Jehovah's Witness and I would end up talking to them anyways.
Yesterday, we were all hanging out in the living room watching TV when I hear a knock on the door. It's really soft, it sounded exactly the way our neighbor (also Dominic's friend from school) knocks. So I told Dominic to go ahead and open the door and talk to him. He opens it, we hear someone speaking softly in Spanish asking if his mom was home. Without a word, he slams the door in this person's face! My initial reaction was confusion, was there not anyone at the door and I had imagined the knock? I have him reopen the door and there is a young woman standing there with her mother. I was completely embarrassed! They just wanted to sell tamales! We apologized and ended up buying tamales out of guilt for what my son had done. When I asked him later why he did it he just shrugged and said, "I didn't know them." Hallelujah! He does listen, after all! Trying very hard to keep a straight face, I had to explain to him that it's extremely rude to slam a door in someone's face, even if you don't know them. I told him next time to just get an adult.
So he's getting to that age where he understands being safe around strangers. Now it's a matter of explaining to him the proper etiquette when dealing with strangers. Just because you don't know them, doesn't mean they are automatically bad people who are going to hurt you! I guess I can sleep peacefully knowing that, for now, if he encounters a stranger at our door, he will just close the door on them, eliminating any danger.
