Thank You Marvel Comics. Now, if you don't mind picking up the counseling tab for my toddler...

Yesterday, because it was family day, I took my wife and 3-year-old son to go see the movie "Kung-Fu Panda."

Now, because Justus is *only* three years old, I am quite careful about the movies that I expose him to. After the debacle last year at the Elmo Makes Music concert, I learned that one can never be too careful.

So I read all the reviews about this movie, using helpful internet resources for parents, such as Kids In Mind, and I talked to about 20 people I knew who went to see it with their kids and whose opinion I trust. They all said that the movie would not be too intense for Justus, and that the scary scenes weren't too scary.

I know, it sounds crazy, but just because a movie is rated "G" doesn't mean a little kid can handle it. The movie "Cars" by Pixar is incredibly innocuous, but there is a throw-away scene with a harvester that chases Mater and Lightning that really frightened Justus.

And don't get me started on Finding Nemo. Stuff like this and this are freaking terrifying even to me, and I'm an adult.

A pansy, perhaps, but an adult.

So I was so careful. I wanted this whole experience to be very fun and positive for Justus.

So imagine my surprise when the doors of the elevator opened up on the second floor of the theater to this:



Justus screamed in stark terror, and just about climbed up the polished metal walls of the elevator. I had to spend about 10 minutes just getting him into the theater. And tonight, as I was putting him to bed, we had to talk about what a statue was, and how it was just fake, and how he didn't need to be scared of it.

"But what happen if the big green guy from the theater comes," Justus whimpered.

I told Justus that it was just a statue, but that if any bad guys came, Daddy and Justus could beat them all up, and that God would help (kind of weird theology). Justus said that if God were there, he would beat up all the bad guys and then Daddy and Justus could just go to bed (better theology). And then we prayed for good dreams.

But still, the whole thing kind of sucks.

*sigh*

BTW: Kung Fu Panda is FANTASTIC