FHE: Stranger Danger

Last night was an interesting Family Home Evening. Da Boo was in charge of the lesson. Normally, this isn't so bad. But lately, she's had this thing about keeping secrets. She tried this last week, when she was in charge of treats. Since she can't make or purchase anything by herself, it was pretty much crucial that she tell me what she wanted for treats so I could plan accordingly. She cried. She really did not want to share her secret. I finally got it out of her (as gently as possible, letting her whisper it in my ear while we were in the closet so no one else could hear). She didn't want to tell me what she wanted to do for the lesson. Yeah, that's a problem. I tried the telling a secret by whispering route and finally she agrees to tell me. Turns out...she had no idea. Oh boy...

Luckily, I have this great resource in a Yahoo! Group specifically for FHE. We started browsing and she found one she liked. We were good to go!

Opening Prayer: Although it was the Boy's turn to pick, he was wandering around the living room sobbing (I forget why, but do toddlers really need a reason?) so the Man said the opening prayer.

Opening Song: Popcorn Popping on the Apricot Tree (yes, I was trying to win the Boy over with hand motions).

Lesson: Stranger Danger. Da Boo had several pictures and held them up one at time, each time asking if this was a stranger in the picture. There were pictures of both kids, Crazy Grandparents and Uncle Don, who were correctly identified as 'not strangers.' Then there were the others: two teen girls, a homeless person, a well-dressed man (who turned out to be David Beckham) and a smiling woman holding a baby. These were the 'strangers.' Then da Boo asked the Man to read the definition of a stranger which is as follows: "A stranger is a person you do not know. They can be dressed nice and have a really cool job. Or they can be dressed yucky and have no job at all. It doesn't matter. A stranger is always someone you do not know. If you have not met someone or you do not know their name, then that person is a stranger."

Next, I read through some situations with two kids and various people they come across. We talked about which of these people were strangers (the guy at the park, the very nice lady, etc.) and who were not (their older brother, their friend's mom, another teacher at their school, etc.). I liked these scenarios because they also said what the kids did in response to strangers (ie: turn away, don't go with them, don't let your little sister play with them, etc.). The lesson had more to it than that but I prefer to keep them short and sweet because my kids don't have the longest attention spans.

Closing Song: Twinkle Twinkle Little Star (finally got a smile out of the Boy).

Closing Prayer: da Boo offered since the Boy didn't want to.

Treats: I made this Slow Cooker Pumpkin-Apple Dessert for Sunday dinner and we still had some leftover so the Man selected that with a big scoop of ice cream for treats. It's pretty good! Although if I make it again, I'm doubling the apples.