Yesterday, I decided to show him "Jack Jack Attack" on the second disk. I turned it on and left the room to finish up some dishes. I returned four minutes later as the short was finishing to find my sweet little movie-loving guy on the couch, shaking from head to toe, pointing at the TV, saying, "Baby?!...Baby?!!"
He was terrified!
And I felt terrible! I immediately picked him up and he glommed onto me like a wet shirt. I turned the little show back on and tried to talk him through it, saying things about how funny the little baby was for flying or disappearing, or bursting into a flaming monster. See, Gunner, isn't that hilarious?! Please, please think that it's hilarious! Mostly, though, I comforted him and told him over and over that the baby was okay.
G: "Baby?!"
Me: "The baby is okay."
G: "Baby K?!"
Me: "Yeah, the baby is just fine.
And then we got out our newly acquired library books and read about planes (Cop-ter!), trains (joo joo), and automobiles (Bus, Mommy!) to try to distract him.
I never thought that it would scare him, and I feel just terrible for putting him in into such a scary situation. But I'm glad I was there for him and realized quickly what was going on. And I'm grateful for the glomming cuddle time, since I have to take the cuddles when I can get them these days. I also guess I have learned to be a little more careful about what I expose him to. Although, really, who would have thought that it would have been scary?!
*Several days later, Gunner is still assuring us that the baby on the show is okay. Out of the blue, several times a day, he declares, "Dac Dac fine. Dac Dac fine." And we reply each time, "Yep, Jack Jack is just fine."
4 comments:
I hope you're not offended because I laughed when reading this! You can't always tell what will scare kids. Josh loves to watch Nightmare Before Christmas, but was upset by a dragon on Sesame Street.
Not offended at all, Lauren! It's funny what scares kids, and strange that it's something we cannot predict, yet will have to deal with all the time as our kids grow up. My niece was scared of the scene in The Little Mermaid when Kind Tritan gets mad at Arial and breaks all of her stuff. She didn't mind the shark or Ursela, the she was terrified of the daddy getting mad.
I still don't like animated movies. Poor Gunner.
I can only echo the sentiments already in the comments: there is no way to predict what will scare a kid.
My sister had a slumber party and watched Labyrinth. I guess I was around 9yo. Terrified me. I had no idea why other than it was a creepy feeling, like Satan was trying to crawl into my brain. These days, I chalk it up to David Bowie showing off his cod-piece. Who knows, though.
Good thing Gunner's young enough to like cuddle-time.
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