Monday, November 03, 2008

Thank You, Batman

Or should I say, thank you, Joker.

We've done our best to shelter Kemper from stuff that might scare the bejeezus out of him. We haven't exposed him to movies with guns, or really much violence at all. (As I write that, I am reminded of his comment to the emerge doctor that he hurt his back "doing mixed martial arts"....) He does watch the UFC with his dad, but technically, fighting is a sport. I'm sure many disagree, but it's easier to explain limits and draw lines with MMA. Anywho, Kemper is 3. He has a tough time differentiating between real and make believe. I'm pretty sure he thinks that the friendly monsters on "Yo, Gabba Gabba" are real. We're doing our best to define to him what is real and what isn't, but as of late, have had a tough time.

While we were away with family about a month ago, Kemper got to take in *just enough* of the movie, "Batman, The Dark Knight". Now to try and paint the picture a little clearer here, Kemper doesn't want to watch the movie "The Little Mermaid" anymore, because Ursula frightens him. He will tell you that, and he will ask repetitive questions about Ursula, and "Why is she mean?"

Now, almost a month after the "Batman Incident", Kemper will no longer go to the bathroom by himself, not even for a pee; he won't go to his room alone, he wails and screams bloody murder if he is put in time out, because that is alone in his room... he actually comes flying out of his room and grips his arms around me and will say, "I'm sorry, mama! I'm sorry! I won't ever do that again!". If he is distracted when we are in a room together, and I leave the room, he peeks when he discovers I'm not there. He has not slept a whole night since, and either wakes up screaming or wakes up and runs into our room, or since he's been repetitively evicted from our bed, he now makes his way to Nana & Papa's bed, where eviction is a tad less likely.

So, needless to say, I'm a little nervous about another change this week, when he spends his first night in the new house. I think Kevin and I might have a roommate.

1 comment:

Dawn said...

Oh my god. I cannot imagine how you would go about explaining the difference between real and imaginary to a little kid, especially one who is so caring and sensitive.

I love that he asked about why Ursula is mean. It shows that he's had very loving people in his life, so he doesn't get why some people are jerks, which is awesome!

That Batman movie kinda scared me, too ;)