The girls and I had a weird incident on Sunday evening that led me to wonder just how to teach my kids to be wary of strangers without being rude to people they don't know.

We had went for a late evening walk. My younger daughter was in the wagon, the older one walking alongside me. She had gotten too close to the middle of the road & I was steering her back to the side when a navy blue truck turned down the road and slowed to talk to us.

I thought maybe he was going to ask for directions or he was going to just say a friendly "hey, great weekend, eh?" (it's not uncommon in our neck of the woods).

I got weird vibes the minute he started talking. He was obviously stoned or drunk or high on something. The scary woman with him looked to be even more far gone -- and had fewer teeth.

And, he was talking to the girls...not to me. And, they, were, of course, answering him because my daughters are NOT shy and will talk to anyone who will listen to them -- they were talking OVER each other to tell him things -- like their names. All the while, I'm thinking "shut up, shut up....shut up!" Meanwhile, Scary Man is leering and weaving down the road (cause I’m still walking) and Scary Woman is staring (possibly drooling) and weaving in the passengers seat.

I'm thinking of all those episodes of Law and Order - SVU and Criminal Minds and Cold Case and Missing Persons ....

My daughter was carrying a stuffed bunny (we've always got a few animals in tow) and Scary Man said "oh...I thought that was a bear, that's why I turned around."

HE TURNED AROUND? To talk to my kids?

OK...now I was spooked -- and we were a mile from home.

He tried to make conversation for what seemed like 10 minutes, but it was probably no more than a minute or two. Still, too long. He eventually drove off -- I'm not sure what I said or did to get rid of him. I memorized his license plate number (N.Y. plates) as he drove off down my road (away from Rt. 8 and I-90).

I knew he needed to turn around to get back on a main road. And, if he did that, I planned to turn into the driveway of the next house. And, trust me, I had no qualms about walking right into any one of my neighbor's houses like it's my own because I was in fear for our safety. I know 90 percent of the people on my street anyway — if not by name, certainly by face as I’m forever running or walking up and down our road.

Scary Man didn't turn around (God only knows where he may have ended up, unless he was familiar with the area). and we got home quickly and safely (after I physically forced my older daughter back into the wagon so I could walk faster). As soon as we got home, I took every visible kid toy and bike and put it in the garage and shut the door (because I remember reading somewhere that pedophiles will sometimes cruise neighborhoods looking for yards with toys in them).

Then, I got down on my knees, looked the kids in the eye and said "we should not have talked to that man -- he was a stranger and I don't want you to talk to strange men like that again."

And, yet, I remembered that just hours earlier I had chastised my younger daughter for refusing to tell a family friend her name at a picnic we were at. I had said "Hey, now...don't be rude....tell her your name!"

Now, how the heck do I explain to them how to know the difference? How can they know when it's rude not to talk to someone and when it's self-preserving not to talk to someone?

How do you teach gut instinct?