Harry Effing Potter

We let Ellie watch the first Harry Potter awhile ago and she LOVED it. I knew the movies got scarier as they went along, so I told her she had to wait until she was older to see more. A few months ago, we let her watch the second one and she also LOVED it. We watched it with her and told her to tell us if she got scared and we would turn it off. She was never scared. Not even a little. This weekend is a four-day weekend, so we borrowed a few more Harry Potters to give them a try during our copious free time. I reminded Ellie that some of them are scary and she should let us know if a movie gets too scary and we will turn it off.

She'd seen 1 and 2, so we sat down to watch 3 together. Lots of running around. Lots of talking and exposition. Fantastical creatures. Ellie loved it and wasn't scared at all. The next day, we put on what we thought was 4 but turned out was number 5. More running around, more fantastical creatures, a somewhat scary Voldemort. I checked in with Ellie. She said "I'm not scared at all. I just want to see what's going to happen next!"

After number 5, we put in number 4. I had some work to do, so I went upstairs to finish some stuff and left Ellie to watch the movie. We had watched number 5 together and number 4 couldn't possibly be scarier than number 5, could it??? He's YOUNGER in number 4. Yeah. Turns out, number 4 is way scarier than the rest of the movies. Greg said he sat down later in the day while we were out and watched a bit while he ate lunch. He said it was super scary.

Ellie waits until bedtime to inform me that number 4 actually did scare her quite a bit and now she's scared to go to bed by herself and she's scared of Lord Voldemort, who she insists looks different in movies 4 and 5 than in 1, 2, and 3. I feel like the dumbest mom ever. Of course Harry Potter is too scary for her. Of course she's too young to watch them. I should at least have watched all the movies with her. I'm also pissed at the movie franchise for making an earlier movie scarier than a later movie so idiot moms like me will think we have it covered after watching the later movie and we don't have to watch the earlier movie.

I am just praying that Ellie's strong constitution will pull her through. I know if it were me, I would be a mess. I'd definitely have bad dreams. I would see Lord Voldemort ducking behind my clothes in the closet. I would feel his nails scratching at my feet from under the bed. I would see him staring at me through the bushes as I rode the bus to school. But I was a pretty sensitive kid. I hope and pray that she is not as sensitive. She certainly hasn't been so far.