6.29.2008

Alright...Am I a Wuss?

Why is it that every time I start reading a book to my kiddos, someone/something is being killed? I always skip the page in The Tale of Peter Rabbit where the Daddy "has an accident and ends up in a mince meat pie". I mean Daddy Rabbit being cooked in a pie...that's harsh, right? Not three pages into Babar, a hunter shoots and kills little Babar's Mother:( Miss Peach loves (I mean LOVES) elephant's. "Mommy, what's wrong with Babar's Mommy?" "Oh sweetie, she was just shot and killed by hunters." No...I skip those pages as well.
Tonight, I was reading The Legend of Sleeping Bear to both the babies. So far so good, animals playing in the forest...Mommy bear with her two cubs...happy, happy, joy, joy...Then bam! Forest fire. Mommy and babies run out of land and have to swim across the lake. Mommy tells her babies to swim with all their might and they all swim. Mommy gets to the shore the next morning, and her babies were gone. She waits through seasons at the shore for her babies....Ummmm....no. I am on the verge of tears reading this book. Where did this book even come from? Would someone please pass the Dr Seuss? Good Lord, am I a wuss? I am going to hide all these books...I am not ready to read about Daddy Rabbits, Mommy Elephants, and Baby Bears dying! Oh, and don't even get me started with Bambi and Dumbo...What do you do?

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25 comments:

  1. Actually...it's encouraged to read those kinds of books to kids. Get them used to the idea of death before it happens to someone they know. Yeah, morbid, I know, but still. It's important for them to see other people dealing with death before it happens to them. That way they'll know it's okay to cry, okay to be sad, and that death is permanent. This is something I have to write a post about, just waiting to pull some resources from work to use.
    My favorite "death related book" is Tough Borris. It's all about a tough pirate whose parrot dies. And then he cries and cries, 'cuz pirates cry too. I read it a lot to Quinn after our family dog died. Wish I did it before, but I was too wimpy.
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  2. Oh man...that just seems so harsh:( Is there an age limit for this? Right now, I'm sticking with Dr. Seuss...
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  3. OK. So, Cathy is right. As a teacher, I get that. But, when the momma is a blubbering idiot (ME), who can cry when reading The Hungry Caterpillar, then it might not be such a good idea.

    As long as you are cool and calm and OK with fielding questions about death and all that goes along with it, then go for it. If they ask questions, then they are interested and ready to learn more.

    HOWEVER, if you are like me, then maybe sticking with Dr. Suess is OK). BTW, I'm hoping I'll grow out of the blubbering idiot phase . . .
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  4. I am the SAME way! I've never seen the endings to Dumbo, Bambi, or the beginning of Finding Nemo... As a kid, I shut the TV off when things got hairy. I still do it today.
    And yes, I am a nurse :)
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  5. oh yes....I am a wuss here as well, but I have been powering through it lately. I am trying to teach her about death. She has a bad habit of killing bugs with kindness. They can only take so much Sugar Bear playing...then they die. So we talk about death a lot around here.
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  6. That is tough stuff! Luckily mine is a little young to understand any o fhtat yet!
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  7. I love to write a children tale with a happy ending no matter if death is involved, I do agree with (Cathy) it's easier to introduce death in a tale. It lets a child know its ok that unfavorable events happen in life.

    Seriously, No matter what you chose to read to your kids, I don't think your being a Wuss "emotions should be shown no matter the story".
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  8. what the? It must be the English! Aren't PEter Rabbit and Babar English stories? Plus they were written in a different time..
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  9. Oh no! We're just getting into all the Beatrix Potter books now. I didn't realize that Mr Rabbit dies!
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  10. You might want to skip The Fox and The Hound too. I still can't watch that one with my boys. I think I cry through the entire movie. Sheesh.
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  11. I'm the same way. I've still only seen Bambi and Dumbo once. And The Fox & The Hound? Never. Again.

    I am also a wuss. But we are still on Dr. Seuss at my house so I'm good to go for awhile.
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  12. I am with you. I figure they have a whole lifetime to hear the bad. They need to hear the good. But that's just me.
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  13. every single freakin' disney character is motherless. that was sure fun trying to explain that to a toddler...
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  14. Usually when you do read that stuff to young kid they don't ask questions or even notice until they're old enough to get it. Does that even make sense? Go ahead and read it - if she asks questions, then answer, if she doesn't - then don't push the topic. She's not ready then. But if she asks - she's ready for some quick answer. Darn - I'm going to have to do my "death post" soon.
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  15. I'm the same way. A lot of children's takes are harsh. Especially the classics - Brothers Grimm were really that - grim.
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  16. I just read 'em anyway. We can't protect them from everything....
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  17. Stick with Goodnight Moon. Nobody dies OR understands the story! :)
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  18. Sometimes if I can be creative on the spot, I'll just go with the flow, making something up. Other times, we skip the doom and gloom altogether!
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  19. Great, is this what I have to look forward to? I get all choked up over Guess How Much I Love You.

    I dont have any advice, but if it makes you feel any better, I looooved Babar as a child, and I don't remember anything morid about those books. Maybe my mom got creative with the story line too?
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  20. Turn the book upside down and wing it, that's my suggestion.

    And yes, Dumbo can break me down like no other Disney story. When mom gets all crazy trying to protect her baby and the mean men lock her away and Dumbo visits and puts his little trunk through the elephant jail bars. It's too much!
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  21. i was finsihing a story hubby started - i think it was tom thumb. i got to the end and they cut open the wolf's stomach and killed him with an ax and removed tom from the stomach ??? WTF. i know i did something with the words. if a book has stupid (noisy nora does) i use silly.
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  22. You're not a wuss. We put away some books until our son was old enough to "get" them and ask questions. We skipped the beginning of Nemo for years. The desire to protect them is understandable. They are only young, innocent and naive for a little while.
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  23. I read them the books with the death and dying parts... though sometimes I do tone it down. I don't like the word kill... it really bothers me for some reason. Both Annie and Snow White say Kill way too many times for my taste.

    My girls now have a morbid fascination with dying. They talk about it ALL the time... and say things like, "so and so died"... so matter of factly.
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  24. Ya know, I used to do the same thing. Still do with my little one. When my oldest realized I was skipping parts, she demanded that I read it all. She seemed to be fine with it all. More so than I was.
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  25. Little Mermaid-- not the original of course,how morbid is that?-- the Disney version. No one dies, true love is found and everyone is happy and singing in the sea... but then she leaves her family never to return.. never mind.
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