How do you instill into your kids that cars are dangerous? Why is it that I can trust K not to step off the edge of a mountain but she’ll step into the street? She tried to cross a crosswalk without waiting for me during our walk today… I yelled “freeze!”, I shouted at her that she needs to wait for me to hold her hand, but as I got closer she still started slowly creeping her way across the street on her own (the walk sign was lit and she does know what the walk sign and stop sign mean, but that’s beside the point…)
So naturally, I yelled at her because I was mad and scared, and I strapped her in the stroller. The thing is, everything is a power struggle these days, and listening has never been K’s strong suit. She’s stubborn and loves testing the limits and it’s nearly impossible to explain that some rules are most important than others. If you throw the ball in the house after I ask you not to and break a lamp or something, I’ll be unhappy and you might lose tv privileges for the afternoon. If you run in the street and get hit by a car, YOU COULD DIE.
How do you explain that to a toddler? I mean, honestly, I’m asking for advice. What do you do? (No one say spank her because I’m pretty sure we were born into the wrong decade for that, though I do see the appeal…