Street Safety

I've had to yell, "Lauren, NO!" a couple of times as she was about to walk into the road. It created an adrenaline rush in me that drove me to find a way to prevent it from happening.

We take walks almost everyday in the summer. Last year, Lauren no longer wanted to ride in the stroller so she began running.  This was a perfect time for me to start teaching about road safety. Every time we came to an intersection or road crossing, we would both stop together. I first told her that cars drive in the road and they will give you a BIG owwiee. I told her the first thing we do is stop and look for cars both ways. Then we hold momma's hand and cross the street. I did this for most of the walk at each road crossing.

Then I asked her the questions. We came to an street and I asked her what is the first thing we do before we cross the street. It took her a couple of seconds, but she said, "Cars."  I asked her if there were any cars and she said no. Then I asked her what we do before we cross the street. She said, "Hold hands." We then crossed the street together.

Now, every time we come to a road crossing I ask her, "What do we do before we cross a road?" She usually says, "Hold hands." We talk about looking for cars too and we both go through the motions even if there isn't a car in sight.

What happens when she forgets to look for cars and hold hands? Well for one, I've got my eye on her so if there is a car, I'm there to swoop her up. However, if there isn't a car, I give her the benefit of the doubt that she is going to look for cars and hold hands. If she doesn't, I say, "Uh oh."  I then swoop her up and put her in the stroller and tell her that she can try walking again later.