On occasion, we let Vinny watch TV – usually one or two shows on Disney is all he gets for the day. The other day, we let him watch Shrek . . . oh my goodness we have created a monster.
Now he goes around talking about Shrek and Donkey all day – asking for them every 30 minutes or so. It even came to the point where tonight we actually had to say goodnight to Shrek, Donkey, and Fiona before we went to bed. And to top things off, a family friend bought him a Shrek t-shirt just yesterday (complete fluke – she had no idea he was such a fan!).
The problem is that there are a couple of scenes in the first 2 Shrek movies that aren’t OK for toddlers (yes, I know they aren’t G movies). We had been fast forwarding through any of the violent parts or parts that may be scary for a young boy but one got by me today as we were watching Shrek 2. Alright – truth is I put it on as a distraction so I could clean the house because we are having guests over tomorrow . . . does that make me a bad parent? Wait, don’t answer that. Anyways, in Shrek 2 there is a scene towards the end that is reminiscent of COPS where they are chasing Shrek, Donkey, and Puss in Boots. I felt horrible when Vinny came running too me crying for “kitty” when they captured him with a noose and threw him up against a wall. Vin was so worried that “kitty” was hurt – I tried to explain things but its rather difficult with a 20 month old.
Guess the moral here is that I need to pay better attention (perhaps not even let him watch much of anything, duh) to what he sees. I am sure there are more of you out there than would want to admit that have done something similar – its just so easy to fall into this trap.
