My timing could have been better. After a couple of slightly creepy interactions with strangers I decided it was a good idea to talk to Genevieve about stranger danger. I didn't want to terrify her, so I kept it simple. Don't ever go anywhere with a stranger without checking in with a parent first, and never get into a stranger's car, even if they seem nice. She had a couple of questions about why some people aren't nice, and clarified that she could get into a car with a friend, and then went on about her normal routine of changing outfits 15 times a day and disciplining her dolls like a tiger mom.
After Marguerite's nap we loaded up the car with towels, floaties, swimsuits, three post swimming outfit options for G and sunscreen. As we made our way through Mount Vernon Genevieve asked, "what are the names of our friends?" I responded, "Kathleen is the mom's name, and I don't know her boys names but I do know that they are 5 and 3 and are excited to have you swim in their pool." "Oh" responded G, "so they're strangers?" "Well, not exactly. I mean, Kathleen reads my blog, and I read her website, and she's been to the gallery, so we know about each other and want to get to know each other better." Ugh! So much contradiction out of my mouth in one day.
Luckily Kathleen and her family turned out to not be serial killers and we had such a glorious afternoon floating in their pool, filling in the gaps in person of who we are, what brought us to live in this valley, and where the best place to get teriyaki is. I drove home with the windows down, the music up, the girls asleep in their carseats after hours of swimming and sunshine, and a smile on my face after a blissfull, stranger-friend filled afternoon.
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