Stranger Danger on the Ranch and Beyond

So I've been talking with H-Bomb about strangers. We get lots of people who just come down here, ignore the "Road Closed to Through Traffic" and the "Stop" signs and just drive on in. Some of them are lost, most of them are tourists, some of them are card-carrying "members" of ABEG who think because they donated $10.00 to the cause four years ago, they have a right to "look around" the ranch. Most of them are idiots. Let's just put it this way: I have a dog who protects our house and family. I do not call her off unless I know you or you can explain yourself, so you better stay in your damn car. I'm just sayin'.

Then there are all the friends of C.G.'s and friends of friends and...it is endless.

I first explained that strangers are people we don't know. I told H-Bomb that we don't talk to strangers, we yell "STRANGER" and run away to find Mommy or Daddy or someone we know. It was going pretty well, the quiz, until I got to the question: What do we do if someone tells you they lost their puppy, and will you help them look for it?

H-Bomb has a soft spot for animals. "We would need to go and help them find their puppy! Because they would be sad without their puppy!" Oh boy. I tried to explain it further, but this is very confusing for a four year old.

The confusion has become compounded in recent days. Yesterday we drove around looking for C.G.'s dog, which the day before hopped out of her truck at the pizza place in town. So, driving on the mountain, of course I stopped and asked anyone I saw who was camping, four wheeling, what-have-you. As we drove up to someone's camp, H-Bomb asked, "Mommy? Are they strangers?"

Crap. Yes, they're strangers but we need to ask if they've seen C.G.'s dog. I suppose if they aren't friendly, I'll run away. Crap. Crap. This is sounding lame, and it doesn't really make sense either. It's not okay for someone to ask you about a dog, but we can ask anyone we see about a dog? See what I mean??

Then, we finally got home, no dog, and were approaching the ranch when I saw a strange truck driving down the drive. I sped up, we had to see who's going to the ranch when we're not expecting anyone. H-Bomb: "Who is in that truck? Is it a stranger?"

Well, let's go see. It was a guy, who I had met once before who is an old friend of RanchHand (R.H.) and Wifey. Guy (this alias may be used again in the future for other people not in the picture enough to earn their own distinction) is here to work on the finish on C.G.'s new cherry staircase. Guy starts talking to H-Bomb a bit, while we showed him how to get into C.G.'s house. H-Bomb is being shy. I say, "now H-Bomb, Guy isn't really a stranger, he's R.H. and Wifey's friend." (but technically he is a stranger to us!!)

See how complicated this is? Sometimes I think this is too much. It's really hard. And it is scary. Just stay close to me, H-Bomb and Sawed Off. I'll protect you with my mama bear fury.