Stranger Danger

At what age does one introduce Stranger Danger??  Well, I introduced whenever the occasion presented itself.  I think D was 3.5 or 4.  Can't remember.

I tend to be a friendly person. I will say hi to anyone and strike up a conversation and since D is with me a lot, she sees that.  We have a dog, people will come up to say hi.
I think the first time I brought up the conversation was when someone was out on their porch and they said hi.  We said Hi back but then when we were out of ear shot, I said to D, "Now D, if mom was not with you and someone came out to say hi to you, don't say hi."  I asked, "What if someone came out and said, 'Hi, would you like some candy?' What do you say?"  D answered, "No.'' Good.

I mean, I don't want to scare the girl but I also want to be realistic.  Recently, an incident occurred again and this one was weird.  A man was driving and slowed to let his dog (he had a maltese) say hi.  Already that struck me as weird but I also didn't want to be rude, so I said hi. We walked over to pet the dog and then he asked D's name...uh...weird, no?  I was a bit hesitant..didn't want to make up a name in case D announced, "That's not my name!"  I was going to say her chinese pet name, "Bao Bae" but then thought that would be weird.  Ended up saying a very apprehensive, "D....."

And then another car came up and we said good bye.  Immediately after that little incident, I said to D, "D, if you were by yourself, and that man slowed, do you walk up to the car?" D: "No." Right. "In fact," I continued, "don't ever say hi to anyone if you are by yourself."  I even said to her, "If someone asks you your name and you are not with mommy, don't ever give them your real name.  Say Stella."
Then we came across a woman walking her dog and then I said, "Even if a woman approached you with her dog and asked if you wanted to pet her dog, the answer would be no and walk away."

Maybe that was a little extreme, but I'm a bit paranoid sometimes.

She got the picture. She said, "What if I was with A (her friend) and someone said hi and A said Hi?  I should grab her arm and make her walk away."  Yes!  Exactly!