Sunday, October 18, 2009

Mermaids, Dolphins and Sharks, Oh My!

Daniel learned abut mermaids at school one day this past summer and when he got home I asked him if he might be interested in watching The Little Mermaid. It's a girlie movie but I thought it might be fun to follow up with his mermaid lesson and Troy and I both watched it with him. He was glued to the screen.

Since then, however he has talked non-stop about sharks. You know the shark who chased Ariel and Flounder out of the sunken ship where she found the dinglehopper and the snarfblatt.
That one.

Sometimes sharks are his friends and other times they are most definantly not. We have not watched the movie again, but Daniel is pretty stuck on the shark scene.

Two nights ago he woke in the middle of the night crying out for me - something he hasn't done in a very long time. By the second cry I was already out of the bed, across the living room and in the hallway. His bedroom door flung open and he had his favorite stuffed dog "Harry Dodey" (don't know where that name came from, but it stuck) and he flung himself into me. He kept saying "Sharks were going to get me."

I told him sharks swam in water and there was no water in his room. This to which he informed me his fish tank had water in it. Of course. After a conversation at 4 am about sharks not eating people he fell back asleep. Oh and we put Harry Dodey on shark lookout. Harry Dodey was commanded to bark if sharks got in Daniel's room.

The last two days he has again been concerned when we put him to bed. Last night he mentioned dolphins getting him and since Troy and I were lucky enough to swim with dolphins a few years ago, I showed him the pictures of how nice dolphins are and he was appeased. I then told him that sharks don't eat people, but they can bite, only if we are mean to them. This was what actually settled him down and he has propmised not to be mean to any sharks.

I'm hoping this shark stage will pass. Who knew a lesson on mermaids would start all this!

By the way - has anyone seen my son lately??

10 comments:

Jenny and Randy said...

Love it that you put Harry Dodey on shark lookout with instructions to bark should one arrive in Daniel's room. It's so adorable what seems reasonable to a frightened child.

Lakeshore Cottage Living said...

Boy do their imaginations run wild. Our oldest used to think that there were bears outside of his window every night. He even through a metal car at the window one night because he was so affraid.

One day after talking with my best friend who watched him occasionally, she leaned over and jokingly said to him...watch out for the bears!!! I just about died. Evidently, it was just something she said jokingly to him now and then and wouldn't you know...he took her seriously!

Needless to say, my friend and I had a little chat ;) and I forgave her of course.

I don't know how long that went on...kind of funny now that I think about it...but it was so real to him.

That picture is so cute of Daniel. He is such a handsome boy...you need another one now Rachel!

Kristine

Roger and Joanne said...

Such imaginations! It's a good thing, though.

Ya know...the more I watch these G-rated Disney movies...they sure have some pretty scary scenes in them for little ones. What is Disney thinking of???

Oh well, seems like that issue has been put to rest. Until the next movie....

Jill said...

At least Daniel is scared of something that truly can induce fear in people...Mari is petrified of bunny rabbits. Go figure!

They also used to watch Shark Tales in the 2s room (A LOT). Mari used to talk about it all the time...he may not have remembered it until he saw the Little Mermaid. Shark Tales is a little more "scary" so he may be dredging up some old memories of sharks.

Mama Fish said...

Oh Rachel- you're such a good mommy! I loved reading this post. You had me smiling from dinglehopper and snarfblatt. Your Daniel is so sweet.... I hope his fear of sharks subsides soon!

Dede said...

We have the Big Bad Wolf visiting at night time at our house so I feel your pain. You better keep Daniel away from watching Nemo, there's a pretty rough shark scene in that one that brought our guy to tears!

Kami said...

I absolutely love the name of the puppy dog!!! J has one that looks just like our Chihuahua mix and he just calls it "puppy" ;). I am so sorry to hear that sharks are so scary for Daniel right now. I wonder if there is a Children's book available that might help ease his fears?

Christine and Stephen said...

Wow ... to think the Little Mermaid would spark such a conversation and imagination!!! I would NOT reccommend watching Finding Nemo ... those sharks are scarier but it does talk about how fish are FRIENDS NOT FOOD!!!

Love the picture of Daniel!!

Christine

Vicki said...

They have great imaginations, don't they?! And you never know what they're going to pick up on, like the shark out of all the things in the Little Mermaid movie, ha ha! Sounds like he's doing great, though. The vivid imagination is frustrating when it causes bad dreams but a good sign that all is progressing as it should in that little head :-D. Hope you're ALL doing well!!!

Carey and Norman said...

Too cute! I just smiled reading this story. Daniel is so cute and so creative in his imagination. Yes, who would have thought that the shark scene should have made The Little Mermaid an R rated movie?