New Development on the Toddler Front
Last week I met a friend for a play date at Downtown Disney. When Bean and I were browsing through a store, Bean suddenly started crying and holding on to my leg at the sight of Zurg, the villain in Toy Story. As many times as we have watched Toy Story, he has never even flinched before at Emperor Zurg. But for some reason he was now really nervous around him. As luck would have it, we were back in that same store this past weekend with our family for the Cars 2 event and the same thing happened. Bean came across something with Emperor Zurg on it and he grabbed on to Chris for dear life.
After that, it went downhill pretty fast. Now, any kind of villainous character sends Bean over the edge. And it doesn’t even have to be a character. It might be scary music or even dark clothing in a cartoon. Bean is certain a bad guy is waiting to get him in everything we watch. Because of this new development, we’re cooling it on any kind of TV for a while. And I think that’s great! We could use a little break.
We don’t watch a whole lot of TV during the days, but one time of day when the TV is always on is in the early mornings. Bean watches PBS while Chris and I get ready for the day for ourselves and Gracie. But with our time out from television right now, I spent that time with Bean playing instead. It meant that it took a little longer to get ready and moving that morning, but it was really nice to spend a little extra time with Bean.
We played with Mr. Potato Head (nothing dark and scary about him…) and I learned that I like for things to be in the correct anatomical position.
But Bean is more of an abstract artist.
It has been strange to see Bean scared of villains. It’s strange to see him scared of anything, really. I have to kind of bite my tongue to keep from saying, “Suck it up, Bean!” But I remind myself that Bean isn’t even two yet. He’s still a little dude and there are lots of scary things out there. Hiding in his room with mommy playing with Mr. Potato Head might be just what he needs for a while.
13 Comments
Mindee@ourfrontdoor
Reagan was my “cinema sensitive” one. We couldn’t watch Rudolph the Rednose Reindeer for years because she would come totally unglued when the Bumble appeared and most Disney movies were out of the question. We even had to fast forward through the Heffalumps and Woozles part of Winnie-the-Pooh!
Claudia
I wonder what triggered this new development. Maybe he had a vivid nightmare some time ago.
Erin Browne
I dunno about Bean, but that abstract mister potato head would scare the daylights out of me!
Ann G-B
I was scared on cartoons too – and as an adult I still can’t watch scarey movies or even ride roller coasters….
Amy S
Does Bean like Veggie Tales at all? If so, check out, “Where is God When I’m Scared”. Watch it first because it might scare him too….but it has a catchy tune that I still find useful with my much older kids now….God is bigger than the Boogie Man!
Adrienne
I have a question about TV watching – what did you do during the days when you were home on maternity leave with just Bean? I find myself watching more TV now because there’s just not a whole lot to do other than feed, burp, and change my 5 week old infant.
Beth @ Persnickety Hall
I don’t have kids, so this is just kind of a thought i had, which means its probably totally wrong, but maybe its just part of his getting older? As in hes now aware of good and bad to the point of understand (for his age of course) that some “people” aren’t nice. Maybe hes grasping more so what a villain is, where before he didn’t understand the difference? Please take my comment as a grain of salt because i really have no clue what i’m talking about! Lol. 🙂
Rebecca @ The Reluctant Housewife
Thank you so much for these little updates. It gives me insight into what’s down the road.
Waiting for Bulgaria
I have a three and a half year old, and I think a lot of the fears started when he was about Bean’s age. They all go through faces, and now he hears noises in his closet and there are monsters under his bed. Part of me wants to say “that’s ridiculous”, but I have to remember that he’s three, he sleeps all alone, in a bed that seems huge to him, in a room that’s mostly dark, on the other side of the house from us. It’s perfectly understandable and normal for him to be afraid.
Amy @ A Little Nosh
My son won’t watch The Princess and the Frog anymore because of “the bad guy.” But he’ll watch The Land Before Time and roar loudly along with that scary T-rex. Go figure.
Barbara Manatee
When my twins were between 1 & 2 years, they couldn’t watch Sesame Street b/c they were terrified of Big Bird and Mr. Snuffalupagus! We were just talking about that the other day.
All 3 of my kids (ages 2 & 4) are still terrified of anything in costume. They keep asking when we can go to Disney World but there’s no way we can head there anytime soon until they can deal with clowns, Santa and the Easter Bunny!
Sara @ embrylovescookies
I think you are dong the right thing by backing off on the tv/movies for while. Just remember that at his age, Bean does not have the ability to know the difference between what is real and what is only a cartoon. To him, Zurg is just as real as you and Chris. He’ll start to understand around age 3 1/2 or 4, but for now his fears are completely normal.
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