Gillian and I picked up John from school today.  We noticed that there was a plastic fireman’s hat in his backpack.  I asked John if a fireman came to school today.  He said “Yes!  We learned about fire safety.”  I asked him to tell Gillian what that means.  He said to Gillian “You can’t play with matches or lighters or fire.  You know why?  Because then you would lose everything that you love the most.  You know what that is?  You would lose your Baby!”  Gillian said “I no play with fire!”  He said “And Mom, you know what?  In the kitchen, you should put a rug in front of the oven.  And then you should tell Gillian that she can’t play by the rug.  And you know what?  You should also put something on the handles of the pots.  That way Gillian can’t get hurt.  And you need to not let the candles go to the ceiling!  And we should clean out the garage.  We need to make sure all the matches and stuff that makes fire is put away.”  He kept going, and I said, “We should remember about the candles.”  Gillian said “Yes.  The candles.”  I asked Gillian, “Do you remember what do with the candles?”  She said “You put them in the cake!”  Everything always goes back to dessert with this one.  But John didn’t miss a beat, “No, Gillian, we need to make sure the candles don’t go up to the ceiling.  And we should only use them in case of emergency.  And only adults should light them!” 

When we got to the house, I was able to tape John telling me some fire safety tips.

    
When Daddy got home, John told Daddy “I got to see the inside of a fire truck today!”  Daddy asked him what you are supposed to do if you get caught on fire.  John said “First you stop (and he stuck out his arms).  Next, you drop (and he fell to the ground).  Then you roll (and he rolled all over the floor).”  John truly enjoyed having the fire department visit his school and he learned a lot today.