I am sitting on the horns of another dilemma. Sophie is just too damn friendly. With dogs, people, and everyone else. Character-wise she is extremely gentle, and I have never seen her hit or hurt another child (her abused stuffed animals are a different story though - we are certain that the most mal-treated are probably a toss up between CamemBear and Monsieur Chat ** I don't know why all her toys have French names but they do!**) They get dragged around by the ear/leg, and thrown across the room etc.. Tough love indeed.
The point is, Sophie is just not very discerning about who she can trust. She can (if not supervised) leave the room with anyone, and wander around by herself. Her Chinese pronounciation is so clear that random strangers can have conversations with her. She will happily chat to anyone, and WORSE - follow anyone (usually other older children, women, and men - in that order of preference) anywhere on the promise of being shown something (usually a dog).
I love the fact that Sophie has really trusting personality, but it freaks me out that she has no sense of discernment at all.
My issues are now this:
How do I tell her this without scaring her?
How do I keep her lovely un-tainted view of the world but keep her safe?
There are big bad wolves in the world, and I want her to know that she should not leave mum and dad's side without telling us first. It's not all bad - most people are generous and kind and love little children. But I have visions of all those Jaime Bulgers and my heart goes out to them. There are peadophiles and nut-cases like that Fritzl guy and they are stuff of my monster- nightmares.
On another sucky note - my holiday in Bali/Singapore is in jeopardy due to the visa issues associated with the Olymp1cs. It is not funny, but if I cannot get sufficient cover for some of my clients over this period, I might have to cut short my leave to deal with it.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
.jpg)
3 comments:
Those "Le Petit Chaperon Rouge" and other scary stories are somehow meant to teach discernment. They may scare needlessly though...
Hmmm. Tough one Shaz. I'd suggest teaching judgement but how do you do that?
How about Aesop's Fables are bedtime reading? I think there are a couple of good ones in there.
About the dogs, I tell Veronica she may not pet dogs that are 'strangers' to us. I also do not allow many children to pet our little dog and tell them that the little guy does not like strangers.
With adults, she does not seem to want to walk away with anyone else but mom and dad right now.
Post a Comment