We always knew Jeremiah had a "gentle spirit". He's been a "sympathy crier" since he was a baby, turning on the waterworks whenever another crying baby was in range. But nowadays, far more than just other babies and boo-boos are making him cry...
It started a few weeks ago. We were at my parents' house, and they wanted to watch a movie, since they canceled their cable and had nothing else to watch. Someone suggested "Ghost Ship", which I've never seen before, nor did I have any desire to. But we were about to leave anyways, so whatever. Jeremy puts it in, and we proceed to watch it (well, this was still the "let's check out the first few minutes and see if it's something we want to keep watching.) Again, I'd never seen it, didn't know anything about it... Someone else, though, had seen it, and didn't warn me...
Anyways, Jeremiah had been playing around the kitchen, but got curious when the movie was put in. Grandma picked him up and sat him on her lap, just as this steel cable (in the movie) was released and sliced through everyone dancing in the ballroom on the ship. I immediately looked at Jeremiah and hoped he didn't get what was going on. He seemed to not be bothered by it, despite starring straight at the screen.
Well, the next part proved to be just a bit too much for him. To make it hit home that something awful had just happened, they showed the captain (I'm assuming it was him, since he was in uniform) dancing with a young girl, and his head slowly slide off his body. Yeah, Jeremiah didn't miss that! He started SCREAMING and freaking out! My poor baby. I had no idea that was going to happen.... nobody, who had seen the movie before, told me or told Grandma, "He may not want to see that part..." Yeah... Mommy's not a happy camper with anyone in this group. But he got over it and I informed everyone that I would not be the one getting up with him if he woke up upset in the middle of the night... Hopefully, it didn't traumatize him too much. Sigh.
Ever since, though, the weirdest things have sent him into a fit of tears and screams... Here are some examples:
~At the end of The Soup, they cover Joel McHale in spaghetti and bring in the "spaghetti cat" from a couple of weeks ago. That's all Jeremiah saw. And it made him freak. Ooooookay....
~Thomas the Tank Engine: an engine is stuck on a wooden bridge that's about to collapse. Another train saves the engine, and we see them puff away, after which the bridge does collapse. No one is on the bridge, or even on screen at this point. Jeremiah freaks and starts crying/screaming.
~Terminator, the Sarah Conner Chronicles: Okay, we weren't even watching this show. I had asked him to give me the remote so I could turn the TV off, and he changed it to the local channel showing it. I think it's a new episode, so I hit the "record" button so Jeremy could watch it later. Just as I'm about to turn off the tv, a car goes spinning out of control, and does a couple of flips before crashing. This freaks Jeremiah out. More crying ensues (this was just minutes after the Thomas episode...)
~Something happened while watching Fox news that made him freak... I don't remember what it was, but I remember being confused because they hadn't shown anything graphic or anything... I think they might have been showing Hurricane Hanna coverage or something... But he freaked nonetheless.
There are other bizarre examples that just don't make sense to us, but seem to really bother him... So we never know if what we're watching will be okay. Not that we watch a lot of tv that isn't kid-friendly when he's around. But yeah, safe to say at this point that anything NOT kid-friendly is off limits when he's around (though that Thomas episode... I mean, sheesh, it's just a model of a wooden bridge falling! What gives?!) No more CNN or Fox News (ahem...) in the evenings while he's awake, no random movies (after the Ghost Ship thing, my brother put in Monster's Inc. to cheer him up... uhh... yeah, don't think that would help...), nothin'. May have to just start with the Baby Einstein videos we were given for Christmas before Jeremiah's arrival. Surely they're safe!
Then again, who knows... Why can't he just be like that baby who laughs at the Wii for no reason, instead of balling at the sight of the silliest thing! Ah well... he's very sensitive, that's for sure. My poor baby.
Definately have to watch what your little tots watch even though you think it might not effect them, it does..as you saw. From day one, I made sure he only watched the Baby Einstien movies or shows like Tigger and Pooh or Sesame Street. It is hard to moniter them but, I just plain stopped him watching anything aside from one or 2 shows on Noggin: Franklin and Little Bear which are both very calm, gentle, low hyperactivity, no violence whatsoever at all(maybe just very low key stuff like a character gets a scrape but, it usually ties in with the episode like 'Frankin goes to the Doctor' and teaches kids it snot scary to go see a Doctor..they are all very nuturing) shows that cater perfectly to a young child.
ReplyDeleteI even stopped him from watching SpongeBob which started out nice enough but, is now awful with the language they use and the comic violence. It's insane.
Any who, just my little bit of advice/understanding on TV issues.
I am sure Jermiah will forget the whole thing in a week or so and be fine. =)
Yeah, still not so sure what's scary about getting covered in spaghetti, though. :)
ReplyDeletewell, fears like that can transfer to anything. Sometimes, when a child gets spooked he may become spooked by things he was never spooked by before. It's strange but understandable in a way. Hang tight, like I said, I am sure he will get over this little episode in his life soon. It's just going to take a lot of conforting and understanding from your part but, he will get there.
ReplyDeletebelieve me I know. Jakob has hit the age where bad dreams happen and though they are random(I even bought him a dream catcher to help him feel better), it takes a lot of reaasuring and patience to get them settled down once again. =}