Loki, Prince of Asgard, Odinson (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
coldsong) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
nexus_crossings2023-10-06 11:36 am
coldsong) wrote in nexus_crossings2023-10-06 11:36 am
On Age-Inappropriate Halloween Cinema
Up and down the Plaza, stores appear to have broken out spooky season decor. Bats, pumpkins, ghosts made from what look suspiciously like upcycled shower curtains, spiders made of pipe-cleaners, etc. Some of the bakeries have cakes topped with fondant witch hats. Some have pumpkin spice everything. Loki is sitting on a bench with black coffee, defying pumpkin spice season in a way he usually does not. Something's on his mind.
"I have four children, and while you wouldn't know it upon conversing with them, they've been through a lot in the past few years. They've seen horrors that adults should never have to face, and for the most part they've recovered awfully well." There are still therapy sessions, and will be until the children age out of them, but aside from that, they're pretty normal.
"I am prefacing this question with that information to give you context. What in the name of all that's holy am I supposed to do with a child that's developed a sudden irrational terror of clowns?"
"My youngest was visiting a friend and somehow caught part of Killer Klowns from Outer Space. I wouldn't have played this movie for them, not because I'd anticipate him having this reaction, but because it looks ridiculous. They kill their victims by turning them into wads of cotton candy, for fuck's sake."
Sigh. "But the mind of a child sees things differently, and now poor Eindrid is so petrified of the damn things it's got the girls jumpy, too. It's going to be a problem if we go Halloween shopping because they're all over the place. I would welcome any suggestions...except for exposure therapy. I'm not doing that to my children."
"I have four children, and while you wouldn't know it upon conversing with them, they've been through a lot in the past few years. They've seen horrors that adults should never have to face, and for the most part they've recovered awfully well." There are still therapy sessions, and will be until the children age out of them, but aside from that, they're pretty normal.
"I am prefacing this question with that information to give you context. What in the name of all that's holy am I supposed to do with a child that's developed a sudden irrational terror of clowns?"
"My youngest was visiting a friend and somehow caught part of Killer Klowns from Outer Space. I wouldn't have played this movie for them, not because I'd anticipate him having this reaction, but because it looks ridiculous. They kill their victims by turning them into wads of cotton candy, for fuck's sake."
Sigh. "But the mind of a child sees things differently, and now poor Eindrid is so petrified of the damn things it's got the girls jumpy, too. It's going to be a problem if we go Halloween shopping because they're all over the place. I would welcome any suggestions...except for exposure therapy. I'm not doing that to my children."
no subject
"Maybe a harmless movie about clowns to counteract the scary one, then? That might give him a more benign image of them. Something appropriate for a toddler, obviously. I could research some suggestions."
Still the basic idea of exposure, but in a less direct way. Paul still figures that the idea might work out for Eindrid, but needs to be toned down into something less threatening to a very small child. Certainly nothing physical and nothing scary. He's sure there are movies or television shows with friendly clowns out there.