I took my child (nearly four) to the dollar theater to see Monster's, Inc and about a third of the way through, he asked to leave.
His exact words:
"Mom, I can't look at this movie anymore. I don't want to look at it. I want to leave."
My heart fell as I quickly became aware of the fact that I had taken my child into a movie he would eventually want to leave. I was THAT parent who exposes their child to scary imagery and fails to think from the onset, maybe it'll be too much for him.
So, we left. I said: "Okay... we can do that."
Once we were out in the hallway of the theater, I explained that the movie ends "really happy" and the monsters were "nice" monsters, but he said "...not all of them. I don't like the mean monsters."
Sigh... the child watched parts of the movie on Netflix as a baby. What the heck!?
Just to ensure we all go to bed with happy thoughts, we came home, picked out a happy movie and are now watching something familiar and light-hearted.
For now, it's all good... but I find myself wondering if I seriously dropped the ball on this one. Should I have known the movie would be too much for him? I mean, my child had to set his OWN boundaries. Yikes! Am I a mother who is SO clueless that I realize too late that a situation is not appropriate for my child?
Maybe I just need to sleep on it. Things will look clearer in the morning, right?
For now, we'll just stick to Winnie the Pooh.
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