The Legend of Pinkfoot

Aubrey has never really been too affected by scary things in shows or movies. (And by scary I mean child scary in cartoons.) She's watched old Scooby Doo shows, which I think are pretty scary and they haven't bothered her at all. She'll scream when it's scary and want to sit by someone, but when it's over she'll say that she liked it and go on her merry way.

A couple weeks back she was watching the new Nick show, "Bubble Guppies."If you've seen this show, you know that it's not the least bit scary. It's about as mild as you can get. This particular episode was about a camping trip. They kept mentioning that when they are around the campfire they'll tell, "A spooky story called The legend of Pinkfoot." When they got to the campfire they started to tell the story. And lo and behold Pinkfoot appears at the campfire. (The pink creature below.)

 He ends up not being scary at all but instead he likes to join in the campfire and eat smores . . .

 

 and sing campfire songs.

After watching this show Aubrey suddenly becomes terrified of Pinkfoot. She starts shaking and crying anytime I leave the room. Even several hours later she realized she was in a room by herself and she came screaming down the hall and crying into my arms. She kept saying, "Pinkfoot keeps popping into my mind." I kept trying to reassure her and remind her that Pinkfoot was actually nice. But, I guess the anticipation and build up of the "spooky Pinkfoot" was what got her really spooked. So, when it became her quiet time she was really upset. She was shaking at the thought of being left alone in her room. So, I went in with her and had her say a prayer. She asked to not be afraid of Pinkfoot during quiet time. I left the room and she did just fine. She played for a bit and then ended up falling asleep. After quiet time I had her say another prayer and thank Heavenly Father for answering her prayer.

Later that night I had Aubrey tell Daddy about how Heavenly Father answered her prayer. That was a bad move on my part, because that brought back all of her fear of Pinkfoot. Bedtime came and once again she was crying and shaking at the thought of being left alone in her room. So, once again I had her say a prayer. She was able to fall asleep quickly and did fine.

I thought the Pinkfoot episode was over at this point. But, no, I was wrong. For about 2 weeks after she would not go to a room by herself. Even to go potty, she'd ask someone to go with her. She was constantly telling me that she couldn't stop thinking about Pinkfoot. And, she would wake up in the middle of the night once or twice every night, afraid of Pinkfoot. What an ordeal!

Thankfully last night she slept through the night, the first time in about 2 weeks. Today she seems ok to go into rooms by herself. And I think she has only brought up Pinkfoot once, but seemed less affected by it. I can't believe how something so mild has gotten her so afraid. I sure do hope the Pinkfoot episode is finally over! So, if your kids watch Bubble Guppies, beware of the Legend of Pinkfoot!