My Son Discovered Street Running

My son's new bad habit is running into the street when we're outside playing. Luckily, our street is very quiet with only residential traffic, and, we have a lot of kids on our street so cars generally go slow. But it's still something we're very strict about.

Before I get into that though, I should say it is kind of cute. He has a little toy lawnmower he likes to pull around and takes it with him into the street. He usually runs towards our neighbors house. He looks like he's proud of himself. I guess he probably is. He's escaping from mommy and daddy.

Cute or not, it is dangerous. Since he can run fast for having such little legs, I have to run to catch up to him. Once I have him in my grip, I lead him back to our yard.

"Olympics, here I come!"

I go by the strike system. Three strikes, your out. Each time he goes into the street is one strike. After we hit three we go inside.

It seems to be working. Now he'll run to the edge of the driveway and stop. I still panic when he does that, but at least he's not actually in the street.

I told my wife we should get one of those 'invisible fences' that people use for their dogs. The dog wears a collar and if they go outside the fence, they get a little shock. I'm kidding of course. If you really did that, you can expect a visit from your county's child protective services.

This is just one more hazard of nice weather. When toddlers play outside more and more, they will get into more mischief.

Does your toddler run into the street? If so, how do you handle it?

Photo Credit: Nina Matthews Photography via Creative Commons