I've been wondering how to deal with this also. My boys will say hello to random people when we're walking down the street and i stuggle to know if this is a good thing or a bad thing. Like you said it's great to see confidence in the child but do you want too much or to not have them know when to be cautious of strangers??

The other week we were going to our hairdressers (she works from home) and we were arriving as another lady was leaving and my DS1 held the door open for her and said hi to which the lady commented on how polite he was being.... But my hairdresser actually made the comment "...Stranger danger..." Which kind of confused me?! My boys were in a place they know and at least one lady they knew as welll as me being close by should i be teaching them to not be not talk to anyone even in that kind of setting?? I want them to be kind and curteous (sp?) to people they don't know but at the same time like you we have to be so careful about the possible dangers of the world.

It's really tough. I have bought the books and we try to talk about it when the time is right but i'm not sure how much he's taken in just yet. I'm hoping that in kiner and school they'll learn a bit more.