Tuesday, September 23, 2008

[JessFinds] That witch in Sleeping Beauty scared me to death!

You get a note sent home from preschool reminding you that you need to sign a form to allow your 4 year old to watch PG movies. On this form, you are reminded that "most Disney movies are PG."

I am not uptight. At all. I am actually pretty lax about a lot of things. But I have a highly sensitive child in Crab. She reacts strongly to what she sees. She understands that cartoons are pretend but does not understand that other shows are "pretend" too.

Before I go further, I will cop to the fact that I signed it. Sure. Let her watch a Disney movie on a rainy day in preschool. I am cool. I can be down with the kids these days.

But I am, in hindsight, not so okay.

Why are kids watching movies in preschool anyway? Shouldn't they be interacting and playing together? Doing crafts on a rainy day? I have purposely not let her watch certain Disney movies (Lion King, Bambi, etc...) because the themes of death overwhelm her. I am taking this slowly with her. I know this is an old topic, but what the hell is up with Disney and killing off parents, especially moms? I know volumes have been written about it. Crab can't bear the thought of anyone being separated from their mommy, daddy, etc... Crab is a bit of an empath, like me. She just feels her emotions a bit more than other people and picks up the emotions of others around her. A little barometer. If it is PG due to fart jokes, fine. If it is PG due to slaughtering of parents and other random violence, I am not so cool with it. I can explain and even laugh at bodily functions but I have a hard time explaining violence and impending doom to a 4 year old.

Am I overprotective? Maybe. Do I change my mind and unsign the note? Unsign is not a word, but I am using it anyway. Do I just man up and let my kid experience something with her peers that is ultimately pretty normal?

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Um, you know where I am going to go on the watching TV/movies thing, especially in pre-school. Rainy day or not there are tons of other things they could be doing with the kids. Patrick's day care doesn't even own a TV. If you are uncomfortable with it, then talk to the director. You are good with people in those situations.

Sarah K. said...

Yeah, I'm with you in terms of discomfort. NO WAY should pre-schoolers be watching PG movies. Sleeping Beauty, for one, is scary as heck. There are plenty of G rated movies out there. Scholastic does a whole series of movies from story books.

Anne Marie said...

Unsign! Unsign! I am not opposed to movies on a rainy day--sometimes a little shared narrative is good for the community (class)--BUT they're 4! 4! G rated was made for them, PG was not. As a mom of two very sensitive boys, I hear ya'. OMG, I'm just remembering a 3 yr. old Max toddling into the kitchen to report that Malcolm was watching something "inappropriate and scary." Empower Miss Crab to speak up for herself!