Last Thursday Andy the girls and I were watching TV, waiting for Nana to arrive from California, when we happened upon an eighties classic- the ever-creepy Never Ending Story. It was already past the scene where Atrayu’s horse loses hope, allowing himself to sink into the mud while Atrayu watches helplessly- shouting his name as he dies slowly and tragically. So we thought maybe we’d let them watch the rest of it- give them a little taste of nineteen-eighties childhood.
Generally our girls are immune to scary movies. One of Brooklyn’s favorites is Lord of the Rings, which she’s been watching since she was born. Both girls think sharks are really funny. Once, when she was babysitting, we arrived home to find that Grandma had let Avery watch The Highlander… Oh Grandma.
Naturally, Andy and I were confident our girls had been properly desensitized. Little did we know Jim Hensen puppets are a whole new level of scary. So the four of us preceded to watch as Atrayu met the undeniably pervy luck-dragon (uncomfortable), faced the ridiculously voluptuous Southern Oracle (awkward), killed the big black wolf puppet (terrifying), and raced to stop The Nothing that was destroying Fantasia- all the while assuming both girls were enjoying the movie. Wholesome family togetherness! The movie ended, Nana showed up, and the very next day we left for Scofield and besides a few claustrophobia outbursts from Nana, the two-hour car ride was going smoothly until something triggered Avery’s hysteria. I am talking screaming- like -her- life -was- about- to- end, desperately- trying- to -escape -her -car -seat, terror- in -her -eyes- hysteria. Morons that we are, we could not imagine what was wrong. She kept screaming “Its biting me! Its biting me! The Dog! The Dog!” Pointing under the front seat. Since there was no dog there that we could see, we were at a loss. We pulled over, took her out of her car seat to comfort her, found that nothing was physically hurting her, and had no choice but to put her back into her car seat. We finally made it to Scofield and she was calming down until, sitting around the camp fire she began screaming again insisting there was a dog under her chair. Could it be leg cramps? We went to bed, Avery’s malady remained a mystery.
Saturday was gorgeous. Andy’s family were all there including his niece, Cynarra who was visiting from Washington. She and Brooklyn had a wonderful time playing in the water and on the beach. We road in Grandpa’s boat. I accompanied Brook and Cynarra for their first water-sports experience ever. Meanwhile, poor Avery did not enjoy Scofield much. Every time the wind blew she would race frantically about the beach collecting toys and chairs to bring into the cabin, fearful that The Nothing would come and take them away- we at last concluded (Duh). Believe me when I say letting her watch that friggin’ movie was one of my most shameful parenting blunders EVER. If she has to go to therapy someday this will undoubtedly come up.