PG certificate - for a two/three-year-old?

[EdgarAllenSloe]

DH is getting all over-enthusiastic about showing DD various films and TV programmes that were dear to his heart I'm childhood. This seems to involve parking her in front of things that are WAY over her head - in my opinion. If I question him, his response is always "it's rated U" or "it's rated PG and I'm watching it with her". But surely a PG certificate film is never okay for a kid her age (she's three next month)? I would have thought that guidance indicated your 5/6/7 year old/sensitive child may find the film a bit much and you need to be cautious. But two/three is surely too young?!

For context, he's tried showing her the Neverending Story and the fucking Dark Crystal - using the certificates as an excuse. Am I wrong? I feel like the only reason she hasn't had nightmares is that it's so far over her head she hasn't a clue what she's seeing. He's approaching it as a delightful bonding exercise, and getting quite defensive so I need reassurance I'm not being precious before I ban anything!

Dark Crystal and Neverending Story are amazing but a 3 year old wouldn't have a clue. Stick to Paw Patrol and when she's about 6 she'll be ready.

They’re dear to his heart.
But your child won’t understand or care. I wouldn’t ban them but would suggest he leaves it until she’s old enough to appreciate them.

I doubt a three year old would be paying enough attention to be bothered by anything in a pg

Okay, I'm possibly slightly overreacting, but correct that there's not much point in them while she's this age. I keep saying she'll actually be able to appreciate them with him when she's 5/6 but he isn't listening. That's pissing me off and that's probably why I'm blowing it up bigger than it needs to be.

Tell him to think about what age he was when he first enjoyed them. I bet it wasn't age two.

My three year old got scared at both Moana and the Good Dinosaur which are PGs so I definitely think the certificates are there for good reason!

Perhaps stop being so controlling. Let your husband enjoy his relationship with DD. Butt out.

There's nothing controlling about stopping your child being shown anything inappropriate rugshade. It's called parenting.

But what has she actually seen that is inappropriate?

Most animations movies are PG, like Happy Feet, Ice Age etc.

I mention animation because DD wouldn't watch anything else at that age. I'm actually quite impressed she stood still and actually watched something like Never ending story.

The Dark Crystal was the one that bothered me most Stock. I think that is potentially hugely scary for a little kid. He isn't generally showing her animation stuff - it's stuff from his childhood that he probably loved when he was about 5/6 at least. He tried showing her the original Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe but she got nervous about the battle scenes, and he at least had the good sense to switch it off. But he still keeps suggesting it to her when they sit down to watch something. It's like he's too impatient to wait till she can properly enjoy these things and is trying to cram it all in now! We haven't yet had actual nightmares or major repercussions, but I think I need to get him to think more about what he's showing her or that's the risk he's running.

You sound like you think he’s damaging her. Why don’t you get him to give her the choice of films to watch?

I always look at the common sense media site with actual age recommendations rather than just the rating

Parental guidance means just that - it’s up to you to decide if it’s appropriate. Some kids are more easily scared than others. If your DC enjoys watching them or it’s mostly just going over their head I don’t see the issue.

Controlling your husband is not parenting. You are out of order and need to back off. Just unclench and let him deal with it.

And FWIW, your husband is parenting by deciding what's appropriate. Your parenting opinions don't trump his.

I have a 3 year old and her dad is really into films. He shows her things that I think can be quite scary (coraline, kubo and the two strings, paranorman) but she absolutely loves them. She asks to watch them all the time.
If he turns it off when she gets a bit scared then I think that's OK. He's just trying to bond with her in his own way.

I'm with you on this one. Sometimes I even find some U movies too scary for my 2 year old!! Take anastasia for example. There are scenes talking about selling their sole and watching bodies turn to bone!!

It's hard when you disagree. Could you perhaps present him with some research about how scary movies affect young children? It would be a lot easier if you can get him to agree with you rather than just getting him to do what you say!

The Skeksis (or how ever you spell them) are freaking terrifying! Love the movie dark crystal though! I'd be concerned the content of a of movie might be more likely to give nightmares. My dp and I are keen to share those kind of movies with our dd too but I want to wait until she understands them better, I agree that 2/3 is probably too young in terms of comprehension of the story.

Sometimes I even find some U movies too scary for my 2 year old!! Take anastasia for example. There are scenes talking about selling their sole and watching bodies turn to bone!!

Hehe I watched this as a child when it came out in the cinema, I was terrified! But then still insisted on having the video for my birthday 🤷‍♀️ I think over all kids are more resilient than they seem, and like adults actually enjoy getting a bit scared when watching a film - a bit scared meaning of a film like the one you mentioned, not an actual 15 horror film.

So both DH and I love The Dark Crystal. We have a 4.5 year old and we wont let him watch it for a good whole yet because it is pretty scary. I've stopped him watching scooby do because he was having bad dreams.

You are absolutely right to try to stop your husband. Children that age are not able to distinguish between fiction and reality and they are not capable to process the content of films that are aimed for a much older audience.
If he wants to watch something with his daughter, he should pick what is suitable for her age and her developmental stage, instead of insisting on things that are potentially harmful to her, just because he likes them.

The dark crystal and a lot of stuff from that era are brilliant, but really dark. I wouldn't let my DD watch them until I was satisfied that she could handle it. Could your dh find something equally as nostalgic but less creepy? Super ted, thundercats and she-ra come to mind.

At 4 my DD happily watches some PG rated films though, the new lion king movie for example, but I'm happy to make that judgement because I know her and what she can deal with. She's seen some Jurassic park and recently hocus pocus but said it was a bit scary so they were turned off. We have shown her some Star Wars and some classic 80s/90s cartoons (who doesn't love the poddington peas?) that she loved.

Super ted, thundercats and she-ra come to mind

I'm going to suggest these! Feel predominantly vindicated by this thread. I just feel like he isn't really exercising any judgement as to what's okay - which should be the default. Instead of engaging brain, he just looks at the rating, is overcome with nostalgia, and puts it on. I'll suggest the things mentioned above and ask him to think about when he liked these things before parking her in front of them.

My nearly 3 year old is obsessed with ET! I think I'd have found the alien scary at her age but she loves it. My husband is the same and recorded ET amongst others to show her. Nothing too scary though, mostly cartoons and the Muppets (very dear to his heart). If we saw she was uncomfortable we would turn it off.
Is your little girl ok with those films? Does she ever get nightmares? Another little girl I know her age regularly has nightmares about the Gruffalo.

I think each child is different and each movie is different. Only you know if your child will understand or appreciate a particular movie or tv show. Go with your gut instincts.
My 6 year old loves the jurassic park movies but a lot of other kids that age would be terrified by them. Im excited to show him a lot of films from my childhood but won't rush into them until I feel he can grasp the story.
My younger sister is now 24 and to this day still can't watch jumanji or gremlins as she was shown them too young and was terrified.