Camille

We went to the pediatrician (I love this man - have I mentioned that before?) this morning for Camille's 4 year old check-up. She is still growing tall in the 75th percentile (chart predicts 5'6" as adult - not bad) and can stand on one leg, draw a circle and square, count to 10, say her ABC's, and whatever else he asked her to do. Camille also received her last round of shots before school. She will have to have a booster of something when she is 12, but after today she is done. She was given 4 shots and did not cry one single tear. Didn't even wince. In fact the nurse told her to hold Mom's hand and look away and she wanted to watch. She is such a big girl...

Knowing that part of the 4 year old check up would include the "stranger" talk, I brought up the subject last night in the car. I haven't had a formal conversation with Camille about strangers so I was curious what she would say.

Me - Camille, what would you do if a stranger wanted to talk to you?
Camille - What is a stranger?
Me - Someone that you do not know and Mommy and Daddy do not know.
Camille - What do they want to talk to me about?
Me (switching gears) - Well, what if Mommy and Daddy are not with you and a stranger wants you to come with him somewhere?
Camille - But why are you going to leave me all by myself?
Me (again, switching gears) - No, we will never leave you by yourself. But what if you are at school or playing outside and someone we don't know wants to talk to you?
Camille - I would say "Hi" and then tell them "Merry Christmas!"

Oh dear.

For those of you that know Camille, you'll understand that the answers she gave above have been edited. The actual answer was about 3 minutes long and delivered in one breath. But when she got to the point - that is what she was saying.

Thankfully, a stranger would never make it far with Camille. By the time he said, "Would you like to see my puppy, little girl?" She would embark on such a conversation that there would be plenty of time for the good guys to intercede.

It's definitely something I need to address though...