Teaching Kids About Manners, Good Habits and Safety

Reading about this mommy's panic gave me quite a scare and reminder to be mindful about the kids safety. (Not that I'm saying you are not mindful Moomykin. These things do happen). I remember once after we parked our car at the shopping mall. I was holding my boy's hand when he suddenly decided that he wanted to walk with his daddy instead. He pulled free and ran towards his daddy. There were oncoming cars and it gave me a shock and a big scare that he could suddenly run off towards an oncoming car without my being able to control him or stop him in time.

I think its time for me to take out the kids flashcards about Good Habits and Safety again. We have many books about manners and safety but I love these flashcards the most. I bought it at a local bookshop for RM10.90. It has 32 flashcards about manners and safety with pictures in front and words at the back.

My girl can read the words on her own but we will usually look at the pictures and discuss them together then I'd ask them what the pictures mean and they love to tell me. They just love a "discussion". They love to look at pictues and talk about them so these cards are perfect. They've got this "Don't accept gifts from strangers" so ingrained in them that once the girl questioned me on why we took the food sample handed out at the supermarket. I had a hard time explaining that one.

Whenever we cross the road together, we would play a little game or sing a song. "Look left, look right, no cars? Then we cross." So much so, that when I forget to stop, they would remind me. Hopefully these little things help. They may not be foolproof but give the kids more credit. They do remember the things we teach them and hopefully they remember it in times of need.