Nightmare on Our Street

Last weekend Pirates of the Carribean: Curse of the Black Pearl was on a network channel so I decided to commit it to TiVo. I hadn't seen it yet since I haven't been an avid moviegoer in the past few years. Hearing it was pretty scary for kids, I was reluctant to let G watch it with me. However, G hasn't been affected by any movies he's seen so far in his life. I have raised him to be very conscious that what he sees on a screen is simply a story (minus the news.) And so, I let him watch the movie with me, skeleton pirates at all. I made sure to check in with him during the movie and ask him if he was scared at all and he'd reply, "No Mom, it's just a story."

Still, the brain has a way of retaining images and regurgitating them in dreams. Naturally I was a little nervous that he would show up in our room at 2 am with dreams of skeletal pirates.

Nope. Really he *was* fine with it. But... yesterday something did scare him and it wasn't what I expected.

Yesterday morning I was breastfeeding NJ back in my bedroom while G watched Noggin in the living room. Suddenly G came running back to my room.

G: "Mom! There are people outside and I am scared."
Me: "Where are these people?"
G: "Outside on the sidewalk talking."
Me: "Well, if someone knocks, don't answer the door without me. You're fine in the house. Come get me if you get scared again."

He wandered off, back to his television program. I didn't hear any commotion outside or knocks on our door. My immediate thought was that many of our neighbors have yard service, and we see people come and go for that reason. I know I have been caught off guard durnig the day to hear loud male voices in close range, when it was simply a crew working next door. This activity doesn't usually scare G. Later I asked him more about what made him so nervous.

Me: "So, tell me more about these people that scared you... ."
G: "Well, I forget what they are called."
Me: "What were they doing? What did they look like?"
G thinks a moment: "You know those people who come and tell you about Jesus and wear blue backpacks?"
Me: "Ah, Mormons. With white shirts and ties?"
G nods: "Yeah, Mormons. They scare me."

I chuckle at this and later told M proudly: "No, a ship full of skeleton pirates doesn't scare my son, but Mormons... Mormons scare him. I guess we're raising him right after all."