how to explain to my 5yr old the dangers in what he is dont seem to understand

[user1483552469]

ok no judging my five yr old thinks he can take on the world and protect him self from everything and dosnt seem to realise the dangers. as in there are nasty people in the world who dont care if they hurt him or him running of,i have tried speaking to him about it and tried explaining but i dont wanna scare him as not every one is bad like thanks uk

Very typical. They need to believe the world is a safe and exciting place. We need them to know they must stay close to us so we can look after them.

I wouldn't go into details, I'd insist he stays close because 'Mummy loves you and wants to be able to see where you are', 'you might need to borrow mummy's brain to learn about new things', 'mummy is very wise and can often see accidents before they happen'.

I'd also talk about it being polite to ask before you touch, keep your hands to yourself etc, which should slow down his rush to take on the world.

And don't be afraid of 'because that is the rule!' I would say to mine that they had to hold the pram '...because that is the rule. If you want to change the rule you have to show me how sensible you are.' So good behaviour holding the pram for a while led to being allowed to walk in front of the pram etc.

There are games you can play too, so he learns to stay close without realising it.

Let him walk ahead on the pavement, but he has to freeze when you say "freeze". Then try and catch him out with frog, fishes, fluffy, ... and eventually FREEZE!

Grandmothers footsteps, what's the time mr wolf, Simon says. You can play these in all sorts of places and he'll learn to listen.

thank u i will give it a try

I'm a veteran parent of a boy like this. He was an escape artist and I have lost him in more places than I care to list!! I had to learn some nasty strategies to keep him contained, bless him. No fear. None.