The Word Stranger

The instant I used the word ‘stranger’ the kindergarteners gasped. Their eyes got wide. Their mouths dropped open. One screamed. Two began to cry. So I told them that they used to all be strangers. A stranger is just someone you do not know. Strangers are not bad. Miss Appleton used to be a stranger. They give her teary faces. One jumps up and tries to run out. “A stranger is BAD,” one particular bossy one informs me. Stranger used to be an acceptable word. Now it apparently only describes monsters? We only use it in one context apparently. Sadly. Just another word they will use incorrectly All of their lives….