Okay, I'm frustrated...Ingy is begging to see Spiderman and Batman. She's 4 1/2. Frankly, other than the picture of the yellow and black bat logo and Spidey's face, I don't know that she even knows what she's talking about.
But I'm frustrated that these icons are even in her psyche. I'm frustrated that the parents of kids in her 4's and 5's class at church let their kids see these films. I'm frustrated that she thinks we are keeping her "out of the loop". We have explained over and over that there are some things that although not necessarily bad are just not for her due to her age, etc. She understands...and accepts this...until the next time a little buddy at church brings it up.
I knew we would never be able to shelter her completely, but I didn't realize just how pervasive the culture at large would be down to her little level. It makes me MAD! We work hard to "edit" what our girls are exposed to. We have kept the princess thing to a minimum (princesses are great, but can be all-consuming for many little girls); we have avoided Barbie (and hope to continue to avoid plastic dolls similar to her); books are still their favorite thing; they still love blocks and stuffed animals and coloring. We are determined to continue to filter their entertainment and the cultural influences that touch them.
4 comments:
I know what you mean - I won't let me 9yr old have 'Bratz' dolls & when she questions it I explain why & she's OK with that. She does have Barbies now but her 'play' is good with them so I'm happy with that. Good luck with your girls!
Thanks for the encouragement, Jenny.
We have similar issues once in awhile. When our oldest boys were 6 & 4.5 (last year) they wanted to watch Star Wars. Ron and I struggled with what to do. Being a homeschooling momma, I told my oldest that whenever he read the book he could watch the movie. Well, he read the book! So, he watched Episode I when he was 6. But I tell you, we didn't have to explain anything to him and he handled the movie well. We upheld the same criteria for The Lion, the Witch,and the Wardrobe and Prince Caspian. He wasn't at all afraid of the movies when he watched them. However, we will not yet let our 5.5 yr old watch them... we set guidelines, but we also evaluate the maturity level of each child before letting them watch anything. The cinematography/special effects would scare our 5.5 yr old, though he would understand the content.
I think the way you are handling it is great. We are different; we don't conform to this world - Praise God!
Praying for you in this matter!
Blessings,
Erinn
Thanks Erinn! It's hard to be different sometimes, huh? Even great parents that I trust don't understand some of the decisions we make...and we don't understand some of theirs either, to be fair!
Ingy also is asking to see LOTR (we have the DVDs in our collection, and think they are worthwhile, but NOT YET!!!!!!) and Lion, Witch, Wardrobe.
Happily, we have the old BBC version of Narnia (only 4 stories are covered) and they have satisfied her to date. They are not as visually thrilling, but tell the story well. Ingrid really does handle advanced topics quite well and asks very good questions. We've told her that LWW is a story that the author wrote to explain what Jesus did for us in a way that is easy for children to understand. She seems to get that explanation (to a point).
We'll keep carrying on...
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