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What Would You Do?

Do y'all watch that show with John Quinones?

I watch it simply because I like saying his name.
"Oooohhh, here comes John Quinones!"
"What's John Quinones going to say about that?!"
"Oh John Quinones ... you prankster, you."

I had a What Would You Do moment myself the other day.  No, no one came out from behind the scenes declaring I'd been secretly filmed.  It was just a bizarre circumstance that got me to wondering ...

What Would You Do?

The Scene:

My family is out to eat at Abuelo's.  As we were leaving the restaurant, we passed a middle aged woman walking by us with a very big blue sucker in her mouth.  Naturally, Levi stops and stares at her and tells me to look at her lollipop.

The woman stops, bends down to Levi's level and says, "I have some more of these in my car.  Let me go get you one."

She proceeds to tell her husband to pull the car around, and she tells us she purchased several of these suckers at a home office store down the road.  The car pulls up, she grabs a Staples bag from the backseat and lets Levi choose a lollipop.

We thank her for her kind gesture, Levi thanks her as well, and we continue on our way.

---

Complete stranger.  Seems kind.  Sweet gesture.

But.

The ever trusty motto rings through my mind "Never Take Candy From A Stranger."

I see this as huge "teaching moment" for my son.  Sure, she may be (and probably is) harmless, but what if someone else gives him a chocolate bar laced with poison and he remembers that Mommy let him have the sucker from the stranger and eats it.

I had so many contrasting thoughts running through my mind that I felt like the angel and devil were sitting on each shoulder.

"Why was this woman eating a sucker in the restaurant foyer?  Seems peculiar. Was she trying to lure the children?"

"She's probably a grandmother and Levi reminded her of her grandson.  How nice!"

---

In the car, Levi begged for his new sucker.  Trash it or eat it?

I have to know ... WHAT WOULD YOU DO?






I am a modern day homemaker with a passion for family, cooking, celebrating, decorating, travel, and memory making! The Lord has blessed me with the desires of my heart in my husband and our two sons. We recently built our dream home and cultivating a loving and happy haven for my family is where I find so much joy.

Comments

  1. I would have thrown it away and given my boys something different to compensate them.
    I think it's kinda weird that she just gave y'all a sucker out of the blue.

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  2. Hmmm... I would probably let him have it, unless they seemed unwrapped or the person seemed super sketch. I think kids learn that they ask their parents. If a stranger offers candy they ask their parents and then they make the choice. It is the same thing with other things with strangers... kids might talk to them when their parents are around but they need to be more cautious if their parents aren't around. Kids are smart, they can distinguish I think.

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  3. This Nana says, throw it away! Seems kind of weird to me. Always safety first. : )

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  4. I would throw it away. Actually I probably wouldn't have even let her give us one. I would have politely said thank you, but no thanks. Maybe said something along the lines of 'oh we are getting dessert at home!" or something like that. Then once you were outside you could have told him that 'we don't take candy from strangers, no matter how nice they look".

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  5. Throw it out! If I don't know the person, my kids won't be eating their candy. Too many sketchy people out there nowadays to take such a chance with my boys.

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  6. I'd trash it. I feel no shame in throwing out the things that other people give me, especially home baked goods when I don't know the family. I guess part of that stems from being a teacher and not knowing which germy kids iced the cupcakes or whose cat was on the counter while they were baking them, but the same principle rings true. You don't know them!

    Even when you're trick or treating on Halloween, you go to YOUR neighborhood where YOU know the people. You don't just accept candy from random people on the street.

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  7. You and I have already shared our views on this but for the record....I would have trashed it. Of course, something would take its' place because that would just be fair. Unfortunately we just can't know the intent of a stranger. It is sad for our world. And it is such a great chance to enforce safety and just being careful.

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  8. I'd trash it. I would probably try to kindly not accept it, but if it seemed too rude I'd just take it and throw it away. Of course, I'd then have to take my kids to get an ice cream cone to stop all the crying from throwing away a perfectly good sucker :) You can't be too careful.

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  9. I'm sure it was fine but I would have never taken it in the first place. Not because I think the lady was sketch or because there was anything wrong with it, but because I would want to teach Levi that engaging with strangers in that way is not okay. Obviously adults can discern safe from unsafe locations and situations, but my mind would immediately go to the: what if when he's older he is alone in the neighborhood or in the school yard and some guy approaches and offers him a sucker if he just comes and helps him get it out of the car? I'd want the precedent in his mind to be: No I don't take anything from strangers.

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  10. Honestly I wouldn't have taken the lollipop in the first place... BUT since you did... I would give it to him. Seems to send a strange message to your child to accept the treat, but then throw it away. If you felt safe and confident enough to take the candy, then I am sure it is perfectly safe. And it sounds likes a legit story to me. This could be explained easily to a three year old that Mommy and Daddy say it is okay. Honestly at this age what is the difference between this and Halloween carnivals or trick or treating? It is going to feel the same to them. As he gets older then it is time to explain even more about stranger danger. Ask mommy and daddy before anything is enough for them to comprehend right now.

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  11. OK- I totally understand why you took it and would never say I wouldn't have done the same thing. It was all in the heat of the moment and probably caught you so off guard that you didn't even have time or mental capacity to think about what to do. That said, afterward I would probably throw it away with the promise of a new lollipop sometime soon and explain the whole stranger danger thing. I highly doubt there was anything wrong with it, but just to be cautious and show him that we have to be careful.

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  12. I wouldn't have taken it in the first place, but even if you just didn't want to be rude there's no way on God's green earth I'd let my kid eat it!

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  13. Would have trashed it. It's happened to us and I just explain we can't eat stuff from people we don't know. I always give a treat once we get home. It's so sad you have to think that way. I remember getting stuff all the time as a kid from "strangers", but these days you can NEVER be to careful in my opinion. It's just not worth the risk. I'll take a few tears shed over the possible chance my child thinks candy/ food/ anything from a stranger is ok and they get hurt.

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  14. I would've thrown it away! That's just weird

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  15. I would throw it out also, because my mind would be going 90 to nothing with all kind of scenarios, like what if she was doing this to lure kids in, what if she is really a crazy lady who preys on little children, it would just freak me out too much to let my child eat the sucker, throw it out, explain the concept of don't take candy from a stranger to Levi and I am sure at some point he will understand why mommy threw the sucker out

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  16. I'm sure it was harmless. People don't think! My husband is a pastor, and there is this one man at church who always gives them hard candies. It is tough because you want to be polite, but at the same time...you NEVER know!! I think I would toss it. Give him something else, and explain that we don't take candy from strangers. You don't want to be rude to someone who may be completely innocent.

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  17. I'm sure she was harmless, but I would have nicely said no thank you. It just seems weird. Now that you have it, I'd say it's a perfect opportunity to teach the lesson "never take candy from a stranger, no matter how innocent they look". One day he'll know why you didn't let him have the sucker. In the meantime I'd give him a replacement treat :)

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  18. Trash it! (And give him a replacement!) If your protective senses kicked in- it's probably for a reason whether you can pin point it or not. A good book about this is "The Gift Of Fear"... it talks about how our subconscious picks up on things that our brain may not process (without thinking and retracing every step), but it influences our choices. Good read! :) What did you end up doing??

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  19. Trash it!! As a parent, I don't trust anyone! My guard is usually up all the time and I don't risk it. We had an old woman from a nursing home give my husband a stuffed animal to pass on to my son, and I trashed it as soon as he got home. People's intentions are probably good but I just don't want to risk it.

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  20. Trash it! Our oldest has food allergies and we often have to say, "Thanks, but he can't have that. There might be something in it he's allergic to!" (To people we know, not strangers.) Good excuse if you need one next time?

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May the Lord bless you and keep you safe today! Thanks for the comment, friends! :)