Making Cupcake Feel Safer

On the same day that I had the inspiration about Jesus being bigger and stronger than Mr. Bad Guy, I also had another inspiration to help Cupcake feel safer.

I finally got around to carrying out my plan.

Earlier this week, I called our local police station. I spoke with an officer there and explained our situation. I asked if Cupcake and I could come in and talk to an officer about how they keep kids safe in our town. They were happy to help us out. :-)

So, Wednesday, we took a little field trip. Officer John greeted Cupcake and took us into a little room. He explained that it's the job of the Police to keep kids safe. He told her how someone is always out driving around looking for bad guys, especially at night. There are always several officers on duty. Her grade school has two officers that regularly patrol the grounds. He knew our street because he often comes into our neighborhood. Our suburb has 55 police officers and 20 police cars, all to protect the citizens.

At that point, he showed her the handcuffs. Once they catch a bad guy, he is not going to escape. He told her that the back seat of a police car does not have handles, so once the bad guy is in the car, he is not getting out until they let him out. He told her about the special procedures when they bring criminals in to ensure they do not get away. I was surprised that she did not ask him about his gun. She often talks about shooting the bad guys.

Officer John also told Cupcake that our city does not have very many bad guys at all. :-)

After that, he brought a patrol car around and let her climb in. :-D




Overall, I think it was helpful for her to know that there are other strong grown-ups out there looking out for her safety.

It should be noted that it took us a long time to get to the point where this was therapeutic for her. When she came home, she was terrified of the police. She would have sooner jumped off a bridge than to climb into a police car. We spent months and months teaching her that police in America are good guys and can be trusted.

Is there anything you have done to make your child feel safe? Please share.

Blessings to you,
Mamita