The front door to a home is a portal to safety for many people. Once a person is home, they no longer have to worry about people or the outside world. They are in their own personal kingdom. They make the rules, and get to do whatever they want. A person’s home is their sanctuary, which is why people are often very selective of who they allow through the front door.
Exhausted homeowners may not want to deal with whoever may be knocking on their door. While rare, it could be a pushy salesperson trying to sell some product that the person doesn’t want or need. Dealing with that is not fun. However, maybe the person’s child may want to open the door. At what age should a child be allowed to do that?
What Age Is Safe for Children to Answer the Door
When it comes to raising children, new parents can have a lot of questions. Take for instance when a child answers the front door. They’ve seen their parent do that dozens of times. They want to do it too. However, they do not realize how dangerous answering the door can be, especially for little ones. You never know who is on the other side of the door. It could be someone that the child can trust, a stranger, or even a pushy salesman. This begs the questions, when should children be allowed to answer the front door.
As with many questions about when a child might be ready for some sort of responsibility, the final say is up to the parent. Only a parent can truly determine when their child is ready for that extra bit of responsibility.
When it comes to answering the front door, a child needs to be aware of the dangers that could be lurking on the other side. This means that a child needs to be old enough and mature enough to make smart decisions. The exact age when this happens varies from child to child.
When a parents begins to allow their child to open the front door, they need to set some ground rules. Some examples of good rules to follow are:
- Only can answer the front door when a parent is home.
- Only answer the door for people that the child knows.
- Never answer the front door when the child is home alone.
If they do answer the door, never admit to being home alone. Instead say that the parent is busy.
Dealing with Pushy Salesmen
Somethings never really get easier with age. Take for instance, dealing with pushy people. Pretty much everyone has dealt with a pushy salesman at least once in their live. Luckily, for the most part, salesmen are only found in stores. Gone are the days when traveling salesmen showing up on your door were more common.
However, salesmen can show up from time to time on your door step. These are definitely people that your child shouldn’t be answering the door for. Most adults don’t even want to answer the door for them.
If a person has found themselves in the unfortunate position of dealing with a particularly pushy salesman, here are a few tips to get rid of him or her:
- Be firm. A person should say they aren’t interested. They should never say they aren’t sure, because that implies they could be persuaded to but the product.
- Don’t ask questions. This starts a conversation, and again implies that the person could be persuaded into buying the product.
- Be busy. Whether or not the person is actually busy, they should say they are too busy to talk to the salesman.
- Watch body language. Sometimes all it takes for a person to show they are uninterested is to turn away from the salesperson or simply walk away.
Don’t Open the Door for Strangers
Front doors are a very important part to a home. That simply little barrier helps decide who can and cannot enter into the private sanctuary. This is why people are so selective over who the answer the door for. They don’t want to open the door for some stranger after all.