Winter Break: "Huh!?" Moment

Before bedtime, Shane sat down to watch some Disney Jr. Sophia the First was on.

In the episode, the sister gets jealous when her dad plays with Sophia instead of her. She stumbles on a wishing well, makes a poorly worded wish, and *poof* Sophia turns into a cat. 

"Be careful what you wish for..."

Shane started to cry. He called out "NO! I don't like that! Turn it off, Mommy!"

Shane's reaction was so strong, it startled Carrie and I.

"It's okay, Shane. Look, her Daddy is going to help."

My first thought was something went wrong and Shane was upset because he didn't know things would turn out in the end (a la Disney). I thought it would be a good opportunity to talk about how tough situations can lead to a happy ending. 

We continued the episode. I thought it would help for Shane to see the resolution.

Shane was upset went they went back to the well and made another poorly worded wish to fix things. He was afraid when the father went back to the well and fixed things, too.

Shane was terrified of the wishing well.

I guess it did look a little creepy. It spook in a fairly normal voice, but it got to Shane.

Carrie and I talked to him afterward. We told him that it was only on the TV. It wasn't real.

I figured Shane would eventually have a bugbear, but I wouldn't have guessed a wishing well would be it in a million years. Facing our fears is an important part of growing up. I didn't enjoy seeing my son freaked out, but it would have happened eventually. I had my own nightmares as a kid. Carrie was (and still is) irrationally unnerved by the old HBO intro in the 80s.

Carrie read Shane a story to put some snuggles and a buffer before bedtime. Then Shane and I talked some before prayers and lights out. We'll be sleeping light in case of nightmares, but hopefully this was a one time thing.