Strangers

At lunch a couple days ago, Lukas said, "I don't talk to people who aren't my friends." Not completely understanding him, and wondering how he could have already developed a clique among the three-and-under set, I asked who he wouldn't talk to. He said, "If I don't know them, I don't talk to them, because they're not my friend." So it clicked with me that he was equating people he doesn't know with not being his friend...yes, EVERYONE he knows is his friend!

About a year ago I started telling Lukas that "we don't talk to dogs we don't know" because he was often interested in touching dogs, even though he always seems to be scared of dogs of family and friends! A couple weeks ago I realized I should start teaching him that "we don't talk to people we don't know unless Mom and Dad say it's ok" because Lukas talks to EVERYONE. Sometimes we'll be on a walk and he'll see someone on the other side of the street and he asks, "Can I say hi to him?"

So his comment at lunch was his way of translating what I said to him.