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Moms in their 30’s

Stranger Danger conversation with littles

Hi moms, I want to start a discussion about stranger danger based on something that happened yesterday.

I’m still on maternity leave, and on Wednesdays my husband works late, so every week I take my (almost) 5yo son and 11.5wk old daughter to the park before dinner (usually 6-7pm). We eat dinner later on Wednesdays so we can eat with my husband who usually gets home at 7:30. Yesterday, there was another kid there (he told my son he was 8yo) playing completely alone, no adult was with him the entire time. Him and my son played together while I sat close by with my daughter. I was close enough to see him at all times but couldn’t always hear what they were talking about.

When it was time to leave, the boy started following us home. It was about a 15 minute walk back to our house. He kept asking my son where we live and which house was ours. We live in a large townhome community (500+ townhomes). After a bit and before we got to our block our house was on, I told him it was time for him to head home.

As we walked away, my son told me the boy kept asking him those same questions at the park, plus things like when his dad would be home, does he stay home by himself sometimes and if we have a door camera. My son (completely innocent) told him to follow us so he could show him where we live, that his dad works late on Wednesdays and that our door camera is dead (earlier that day i was on the phone with my husband talking about ordering a new charger for the ring camera bc it had died and wasn’t charging, i assume that’s why my son said the door camera was dead)

I’m sure it was completely innocent, and part of me feels like I might be overreacting, but something about it didn’t sit right with me. So I asked if he knew the boy’s name, and he said no and that the boy wouldn’t tell him, which also felt a little strange.

It definitely made me raise an eyebrow and has me thinking more about having a serious, age appropriate conversation with my son about stranger danger and sharing too much personal information.

How are you or would you approach the conversation about stranger danger with your 4-5 year olds? What would you say and how do you keep it clear but age appropriate?

Would really appreciate an honest & open discussion about this. TIA🤍