Genie-tals
This morning Evan wanted to talk about Aladdin, as he sometimes does. It scared him when we last rented it, but he tells us he wants to try it again. Well today he mentioned something about the genie's pee pee. I said, "Wait- go back- what about the genie's pee pee?" And he mumbled some long run-on sentence about the genie's belt and the way he did something with his pee pee. Everything became very clear in that moment- our child thought we were exposing him to some pornographic cartoon this whole time-
Here son, come! Let us eat cookies and stay up into the wee hours in mommy and daddy's big bed so that we can teach you about all the horrors the world has to offer you!! What, it freaks you out? Why ever would it do that? It's fun! Get in the spirit of things! Hear the eery Arabian music? See the flashing fire and swords? And look what the big blue man does with his pee pee while he sings!
Thankfully, he expressed this to me at long last so that I could clear things up- "No, Evan, that's not a pee pee, that's the genie's tail- it's really just like smoke. It's just pretend- you know that, though- right..." right, right-right- not a pee pee, not a pee pee, not a pee pee! He paused while his brain digested this new information. "It's just smoke- it's pretend," he repeated.
All of this goes to say, (to those of you who recall my mentioning how terrified he was way back when)- well it's NO WONDER, now is it! And how will I ever undo what damage has already been done?
