Comments on Mommy Snark: A 5 year old watching Breaking Dawn?

I hate it when the comments are about the comments...

2011-12-01T02:36:49.953-05:00

I hate it when the comments are about the comments, but I did want to mention - kindly, entirely without rancor - that it is naive to think that we don't have some vested interest in how others raise their children. Worrying about our own children almost always requires worrying about others', if for no other reason than that those children eventually make up our own kids' "village." There is only so much interference a parent can run for their kids before the only tool they have left is praying for good judgment in the parents of their kids' friends, neighbors, and classmates.

Judge? Maybe not. But pay attention? Appropriately express concern? Act when necessary?

You better believe it.

2011-11-25T16:56:28.059-05:00

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Corey and Leisl, I appreciate you making a comment...

2011-11-25T11:42:41.085-05:00

Corey and Leisl, I appreciate you making a comment, even though it disagrees with the sentiments I expressed in my post. I spoke in my post about my desire to not be judgmental. As you indicated, we are all free to make choices for our children as we see fit. Generally, I agree with your praise of the Twilight series. I think there are wonderful things about the books/movies that embrace good values. My frustration is not with the series in general, and it wasn't meant to focus individually on the one mother of a five year old that I saw at the movies last Saturday night. Perhaps it is better expressed as a frustration with a world that has become increasingly tolerant, lazy even, when it comes to making choices about our children in general. Even the movie rating industry, not the strictest standard out there, deems Breaking Dawn worthy of a PG-13 rating. A PG-13 rating means Parents Strongly Cautioned, that content may not be appropriate for children under age 13. No matter how you shake it, I don't think there's any conversation you can have with a 5 year old to make this movie acceptable for children so young.

2011-11-24T19:56:53.249-05:00

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Wow. I didn't see the movie (or read the book...

2011-11-23T23:55:24.232-05:00

Wow. I didn't see the movie (or read the book), but I know the content. Interesting choice for that mom.

I am in SHOCK that such little ones would be taken...

2011-11-23T19:20:30.569-05:00

I am in SHOCK that such little ones would be taken to the movie - what the crap?

But then I had to remind myself that when Chloee came to live with us, I had to re-teach her about Lady Gaga. Replaced her with a disney soundtrack as her favorite music to listen to.

Makes me sad. And on the other hand, glad that my boys are grown!

Well said. And thanks for the links!

2011-11-22T15:13:01.882-05:00

Well said. And thanks for the links!

I have friends whose 3-year-olds know Lady Gaga ly...

2011-11-21T13:40:01.442-05:00

I have friends whose 3-year-olds know Lady Gaga lyrics, and dance like her too. What lyrics and gyrations will these 3-year-olds be performing when they are teenagers?! The thought scares me! Parents these days need to be aware and grow a pair.

Amen! I totally agree. My husband has coworkers ...

2011-11-21T11:44:38.228-05:00

Amen! I totally agree. My husband has coworkers with young children and they all let them watch any movie they want, including R rated movies. Because they just don't see the harm in it. And neither my husband or I can understand it, becuase there are some PG movies that we won't let our 8 year old watch.

Amen to all of it. All of my girls friends (11 ye...

2011-11-21T08:51:44.992-05:00

Amen to all of it. All of my girls friends (11 years old and even YOUNGER) have seen ALL of the Twilight movies. My girls want to know wny I won't let them see them--and you described it perfectly. I also couldn't believe the number of parents who let their 11/12/13 year old daughters read all of the books. Ugh.

Last spring I read an interesting book called Free Range Kids. Since then I've tried to give my 11 year olds more physical freedom. I let them go to our neighborhood tennis court together, with the cell phone. I let them go on bike rides alone, with the cell phone. Their best friend isn't even allowed to walk to the end of the driveway alone. (not kidding.) One of my girls noticed the differences and said "Olivia's parents protect her from going places, but you protect us from movies and stuff like that." Yep, I do. And I will. Because I don't need them to see any part of Kristin Stewart's breasts, even if we did just have the talk last month... ;)

Thank you. I whole heartedly agree. I've also...

2011-11-21T08:26:33.584-05:00

Thank you. I whole heartedly agree.

I've also read the books (and loved them), and watched the first three movies (and laughed through them they were so over dramatic and poorly acted). I honestly have a problem with 15 year olds reading those books, let alone tweens or younger.

If we don't parent our children, the world will. And we only have ourselves to blame for the consequences.

I also read the Twilight series--only because my o...

2011-11-21T07:44:11.804-05:00

I also read the Twilight series--only because my oldest daughters (15, 19 and 23 at the time) were also reading them...I wanted to know what the big deal was! The first couple were intriguing, but the series lost my interest after that, so it was hard to get to the end. I watched the first couple of movies on dvd, after my girls told me the movies weren't that good--and they were right. This last movie will not be seen in our house. We made that decision after reading the reviews that said it was so graphic that it had to be edited to make it a PG-13. That just made me uncomfortable. I don't want to watch a movie with my hands over my eyes. At 50 years old, I'm just too young for that stuff.

AMEN! I was one of those silly women who did the ...

2011-11-21T02:22:26.699-05:00

AMEN! I was one of those silly women who did the midnight showing--but it was honestly just for the "group of girlfriends" fun of it. I was SO appalled at the age of the kids in the theater. I don't understand it--so inappropriate.

I went last week before this movie opening night. ...

2011-11-21T00:21:05.804-05:00

I went last week before this movie opening night. I got invited by a friend whose company was throwing a big party. In other words I went for the social aspect of it. I think I was probably the most clueless of everyone in that whole theater. I haven't read the books, nor ever will since it's not the genre of book that I read. I only saw Twilight and that was it. But one thing I know for sure, simply WRONG that those children were there. Give the parents the benefit of the doubt that they showed up there without reading the reviews first, but then they should have WALKED OUT! Walk out and save your children some unnecessary stress from their already media-invaded life.

Amen, sister! I went to see it with some friends ...

2011-11-20T23:56:54.248-05:00

Amen, sister! I went to see it with some friends last night, and while we didn't see any kids quite that young, there were some young teens/possibly pre-teen girls there. And we were a little shocked about that!