Holding hands while crossing the street

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wow. I am so confused by all you militant hand-holders. I have a runner and even with that don't insist on hand-holding all the time.

Yes, I said with my 6.5 y.o. it's not negotiable. This means the expectation was made clear when he was young and it still stands. It's done gently and there's nothing militant about it. Nothing is forced, it's just the rules for our family. We cross the street or are in the parking lot, we hold hands, period. What's your beef? Let your child run wild if you want to. Once they are hit by a car, saying oops won't help.

[Anonymous]

Normal for an 18 month old. I usually ended up carrying. Somewhere between 2 and 2.5 the reason you keep grabbing their hand sinks in and it becomes less difficult. Keep verbalizing why you are doing it every time "im holding your hand because this is a parking lot and cars cant see you and could hit you", im carrying you across the street because you need to hold my hand when crossing the street, or you get carried"), and eventually the correlation sinks in. Even then they are not reliable. My 4 year old is pretty cautious, but i still wouldnt trust her not to get distracted and move suddenly in the wrong direction.