It's That Time of Year...

...Sick Season

I am trying to keep our schedule as much as possible, while knowing that everything may change with a quick call from a school nurse.  I hope you all are surviving the season!

Street Safety

I work in a great neighborhood, dead end street where nearly every family has children.  The kids are outside all the time, and I can stand outside if Tinkerbell is napping, and watch Bill Nye get to any house on the street.  Bill Nye's school is a few streets over, so we walk to school too.  And we have to cross a few streets.  In a neighborhood where all cars drive extra slow to account for the "child chasing a ball,"  how do I teach them how to cross safely?  There have been lots of grabbing of hands/arms and yelling "stop!" but they (especially Bill Nye) just don't seem to understand.  When we travel out of the neighborhood, like while going to the grocery store or tennis classes, we have to walk through busy parking lots.  This is when he likes to pull away the most, and of course scares me the most in the process.

Besides using scare tactics, and becoming very stern when they do not listen, does anyone have any ideas for getting past this?  For teaching safe behaviors?