The Abominable Snowman, Toddler's First Terrorist

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On this chilly November Friday night, we decided to sit down after dinner and enjoy a movie before our youngest, Abby (2yo), had to go to bed.  So after some deliberation, our oldest, Ally (7yo) decided she wanted to watch a Christmas classic...Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer.  This movie has a special place in our family.  Not only is it one of mine and Tracy's favorite stories from childhood...it also was the movie on TV in the hospital room right before Ally was born on Dec. 5, 2000.  So we popped the DVD in, excited that our youngest was going to experience this family favorite for the first time.  In retrospect, we probably should have thought it through just a tad more.

Abby was enjoying the movie, with appearances from Santa...her first introduction to Rudolph...and then Hermie the Elf who wanted to be a dentist!  This movie has so many great moments!   But then...I started to get a bit concerned when I remembered just how creepy the Abominable Snow Monster was...aka "BUMBLE".  When he peered over that mountain, I realized I had an impressionable two year old sitting beside me.  But suprisingly she did just fine.  When Cornelius and the boys set sail on their instant iceberg and escaped, she was still just fine.  I thought for sure Abby was cool with this forboding antagonist, so we watched on...bad idea.

It all fell apart, though, later in the movie.  Yeah, you know the scene now, don't you?  Remember?  When BUMBLE has the family and Rudolph's girlfriend Clarice trapped in his cave.  If you forget, check out the video tab above...it's the scene at about :50.

Abby had a major meltdown.  That scene is obviously for kids older than 2, for damn sure.  Probably over 5 is more like it.  Even at 42, I still kinda get the willies, but at least I know how it ends!  Okay, so NOW what do we do?  Well...because we KNEW how it ended, we tried to keep watching to evenutally calm her fears.  An even brighter idea.

"Abby!  Abby!  Watch!  Watch!  It's gonna be okay!  Hermie's gonna pull his teeth and he won't eat anybody!  And then he'll put the star on the Christmas tree and he'll be everyone's friend!"  Yeah, that wasn't working....

Needless to say, we stopped the movie and swifty slapped on "A Very Pooh Christmas".  I just hope we didn't cause our child any long term damage with Abby's first Christmas Movie!  Thanks a lot Burl Ives.

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