Yesterday my three year old son was watching an Elmo video. In the middle of the story, he started crying (his scared cry, you know the one!). The bad guy had taken Elmo's blanket. David kept saying between sobs, "It's not nice to take Elmo's blanket!"
Because it was the first time he had seen this video, we didn't know it would scare him. But since we were watching it with him, we were able to turn it off.
Kids of all ages need us to protect them from things that might be scary or too mature for them. Your twelve year old daughter may really want to read Twilight. "Everyone is reading it!" But it's your job as Mom (or Dad!) to make sure what she reads, watches, and listens to is appropriate for her age and maturity level.
So watch TV with your kids. Read Twilight. Download songs from the albums they want to buy. Even get a Facebook account. Be proactive! When your child is ready for new experiences, you can share them together, like making "Team Edward" shirts to wear to the movie!
Photo byhoneyjazz
Sandra Peoples blogs Eight Reasons and with friends at Today's Housewife. You can find her on Twitter @SandraWP. When she's not on-line, she's playing cars and trains with her two young sons.
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So true! Every bit! Not only does it help us protect them, it bonds us together.
from the perspective of the child, i don't agree with this at all. maybe i'm looking too far into it, but i just don't think it is necessary for parents to watch what their teens are watching, read what their teens are reading. i read books like gossip girl that contains mature content when i was in middle school, but i've never done any of the things i read about in the books. i watched movies and tv shows that portrayed a not-so-christian way of living, and yet i stuck to my christian faith. on the flip side, i knew people whose parents sheltered them from "maturely themed" media, and they rebelled because of that. sorry to make this so long. i do think you make a good point, but there is another side to that. i guess you've just got to find the right balance for yourself.