Walking out of the Avatar movie last night at 11 p.m., my husband and I were surprised to see a 5 year old child exiting the theater with his grandparents. As we waited for the elevator together, I was curious what he thought of the PG-13 movie.
Not surprisingly, he thought it was really cool (it was), and a little frightening (it was, not to mention crazy violent). Then he said something that is still bothering me. He mentioned that his parents had never let him see a movie in the theater before. “Really,” I said. “I’m surprised that they would pick Avatar as your first movie.”
The boy looked sheepishly at his grandmother who answered, “Oh, that’s what grandparents are for. He wasn’t even scared. I don’t know why his mother is so uptight anyway.”
Um, I do. Because she’s the one who now gets to experience the untold joy of being woken up at 4 a.m. to hear about his nightmares. As a kid, I had nightmares for years about the drawf and the albino in Foul Play – a 1970s COMEDY with Chevy Chase and Goldie Hawn. Those two characters are mince meat compared to the frightening animals and violent spaceships and anti-enviroment military freaks in this film.
I totally understand the grandparents need to spoil our children. Some may even think it’s a g-d given right, but I digress. I’ll be the first to admit it’s annoying, but it is not going to kill them to eat nothing but cookies for a full day or receive far too many gifts for their birthday or Christmas. But to me, it crosses a line to take an impressionable mind to a violent and scary film without consulting the parent.
Am I alone here? Has something like this ever happened to you? How would you have handled the situation if it was your in laws?
When Grandparents Corrupt our Kids
Not surprisingly, he thought it was really cool (it was), and a little frightening (it was, not to mention crazy violent). Then he said something that is still bothering me. He mentioned that his parents had never let him see a movie in the theater before. “Really,” I said. “I’m surprised that they would pick Avatar as your first movie.”
The boy looked sheepishly at his grandmother who answered, “Oh, that’s what grandparents are for. He wasn’t even scared. I don’t know why his mother is so uptight anyway.”
Um, I do. Because she’s the one who now gets to experience the untold joy of being woken up at 4 a.m. to hear about his nightmares. As a kid, I had nightmares for years about the drawf and the albino in Foul Play – a 1970s COMEDY with Chevy Chase and Goldie Hawn. Those two characters are mince meat compared to the frightening animals and violent spaceships and anti-enviroment military freaks in this film.
I totally understand the grandparents need to spoil our children. Some may even think it’s a g-d given right, but I digress. I’ll be the first to admit it’s annoying, but it is not going to kill them to eat nothing but cookies for a full day or receive far too many gifts for their birthday or Christmas. But to me, it crosses a line to take an impressionable mind to a violent and scary film without consulting the parent.
Am I alone here? Has something like this ever happened to you? How would you have handled the situation if it was your in laws?