Is 4 too young?

chrisb84uk · Post by **chrisb84uk** » Tue Sep 27, 2005 5:53 am

Well seeing as how your daughter knows that everything is fake, then I don't really think it would be too much of a problem personally. If u find a haunted house that u may take her then I would make sure to check the place out yourself first though before taking your daughter, just to make sure that u feel it's ok.

If your daughter is the kind of person that wouldn't get affected by the darkness and such in there, and you are the best person to judge that, then I would go right ahead.

lady cop · Post by **lady cop** » Tue Sep 27, 2005 6:12 am

i will tell you the truth about this....i was 10 and a very smart kid. but our maid had me watch a scary movie. it took me many years to get over it. don't take the chance. i had nightmares for years!!

Accountable · Post by **Accountable** » Tue Sep 27, 2005 6:48 am

You know your kid beter than we. You'll be with her. Does she look to you as her protector? Will she feel safe with you no matter what?

robinseggs · Post by **robinseggs** » Tue Sep 27, 2005 7:02 am

I would also take her to the place that your friend took her 3 yr old to. That place is likely one of the more kid friendly places. I agree if you can check it out first, do so and explain to the employees what you are doing and maybe they won't charge you twice. The other thing you can do before you actually go in, is ask the workers where you can get out fast in case you need to. There are quick escapes usually in those houses in case of injury or too much fright. There has to be some escape plan where you can ditch, like if there were a fire. When I was in high school I went w/ some girlfriends and my friend actually had her shoulder dislocated when she jumped against a wall to get away from a monster. She was in so much pain. The monster quickly became her savior, and wisked her out a side door! She was gone so fast we didn't know where she went! By the time we got out of the house, she was on her way to ER!!!

actionfigurestepho · Post by **actionfigurestepho** » Tue Sep 27, 2005 7:25 am

Has she watched scary movies before? Is she afraid of the dark or loud noises? Is she prone to nightmares? If you've exposed her to scary things with no consequences in the past she'll probably be OK with a kid-friendly place. But if she tends to have nightmares and cower whenever she hears a loud noise I wouldn't take her.

abbey · Post by **abbey** » Tue Sep 27, 2005 7:47 am

I suppose it depends how impressionable she is,

i remember being scared out of my wits at 4-5 years old by my big sister,

but then i am a scaredy cat.

Accountable · Post by **Accountable** » Tue Sep 27, 2005 8:22 am

abbey wrote: I suppose it depends how impressionable she is,

i remember being scared out of my wits at 4-5 years old by my big sister,

but then i am a scaredy cat.

Even your av seems to be hiding.

chonsigirl · Post by **chonsigirl** » Tue Sep 27, 2005 8:51 am

No. Of course she is going to ask to go, every other kids is going to the scarey place. But 4 is way too young for something like that, it can seriously frighten here. Consider it in 7-8 years.

abbey · Post by **abbey** » Tue Sep 27, 2005 10:24 am

tmbsgrl wrote: She has watched scary movies.. Like Freddy, Jason & Michael Myers.. She laughs. But seeing the people in person might be whole new

experience.Tough cookie eh?

I know that they are actors in those movies, but i cant watch em!

grizabela · Post by **grizabela** » Thu Oct 06, 2005 8:01 pm

When my oldest daughter was 6, she begged to go through a local haunted house. Now this is a child who liked scary movies, and was pretty gutsy. Some of the people in the house were people we knew. I told her beforehand who some of the people were, and had them talk to her. She was quite insistent about not being scared and wanting to go in. Against my better judgement I took her. Not 5 minutes into our journey, however, I had to take her out. She was a quivering little bundle of fear, and I felt TERRIBLE!!

The next year I found a child-friendly haunted house. It kept lights on, and was inhabited by cartoon characters. The end result was a lot better.

Who knows? Your daughter might sail through and have a great time. I would suggest however, a child-friendly place for the first time. She'll be happy to have gone through one, and next year you could progress to something a little more scary.

Good Luck!

Clint · Post by **Clint** » Thu Oct 06, 2005 10:47 pm

Childhood is a precious time that we only get once. Parents should guard it for their children.

chiquita · Post by **chiquita** » Tue Oct 11, 2005 7:38 pm

... not all kids are capable of handling such terror, although they had watched horror movies, etc.. there's always something that would scare kids down the road.. go see it for yourself and/or take your child to a kids-environment haunted place

Clint · Post by **Clint** » Tue Oct 11, 2005 7:59 pm

I donÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t know if itÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s a blessing or not but IÃ¢â‚¬â„¢m one of those people who can remember a quite a few things when I was around four and even more when I was older. I remember when I was about five a cousin visited. He convinced me there were buzzards outside the front door of the house. It took my parents a long time to get me back to the point I would use the door. I can remember how terrified I was. It was not fun.

I also remember at the same age, my dad putting a hot dog in his mouth when I wasnÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t looking. When I was looking, he pushed it out like you would if you were sticking out your tongue. He then proceeded to split it with a knife. I remember the shock and fear in his face when he saw how badly it scared me. IÃ¢â‚¬â„¢m sure he thought it was innocent enough when he did it.

If kids donÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t have to see that stuff, donÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t show them. They will see plenty of gore in their lives. Why expose them to it early?

orangesox1 · Post by **orangesox1** » Wed Oct 12, 2005 1:57 am

My Husband took our 9 yr old boy into a haunted hose, when he came out he was so terrified I thought we were going to have to call an ambulance. he was also exposed to Freddy by a babysitter. he had nightmares for months.

I have a 14 yr old that my husband took to see the Mummy when he was 9, he still is afraid of the dark. I also sleep with the hall way light on as I saw to many horror movies when I was in my teens.

There is no way I would take a child to a haunted hose, they can go themselves when the're old enough to get in alone if they want.

chrisb84uk · Post by **chrisb84uk** » Wed Oct 12, 2005 5:10 am

tmbsgrl wrote: We are not taking her.. I don't want her to get nightmares. Heck these days trick or treating is one big haunted house! People jump out of everywhere here! Last year this one man jumped out of a TREE with a chainsaw.. Started it before he even hit the ground.. Scared the hell outta ME!

:-3

Agh that sounded nasty!! After watching that Texas chainsaw film, I've never looked at a chainsaw the same way since!!

orangesox1 · Post by **orangesox1** » Wed Oct 12, 2005 5:13 am

chrisb84uk wrote: Agh that sounded nasty!! After watching that Texas chainsaw film, I've never looked at a chainsaw the same way since!!

I like to sleep with my chainsaw, so I can scare of any intruders that might come in the night, I'd only have to point it at them and they'd be gone real fast. :sneaky:

chrisb84uk · Post by **chrisb84uk** » Wed Oct 12, 2005 5:22 am

That reminds me of something similar to the film Home Alone, where he plays that video tape of gangsters arguing and shooting each other to scare off those burglars.

Hehehe that was a funny film!! :wah:

chrisb84uk · Post by **chrisb84uk** » Wed Oct 12, 2005 5:32 am

tmbsgrl wrote: I screamed as loud as I could! There was about 10 other people screaming with me. I felt so stupid! I knew to expect it.. IT IS HALLOWEEN! He just totally caught me off guard coming outta a damn tree!:-2

I can't blame you for screaming, I probably would of done the same. I'm a big wimp when it comes to out of the blue surprises. Heck I mean I feel stupid, when a car honks it's horn at someone they know. I just go aggh, and feel like an idiot, but hey that's just me for you!! :p

robinseggs · Post by **robinseggs** » Wed Oct 12, 2005 7:26 am

You know you could do some really fun things at home w/ the little ones!! Why not make a haunted room for her and her friends for example? We are doing something like this for a kids church party. They will reach into bags and touch eyeballs (really peeled grapes) and dead goldfish (sliced peaches in syrup!) and earthworms (spaghetti noodles). You can play creepy music--they're selling the cds at walmart......You can create crawl tunnel by draping sheets over furniture and place plastic/rubber spiders, skeletons, creepy things on the ground inside the tunnel so they feel them as they crawl through!! If you don't want the room totally dark, a red light bulb works wonders to create a creeeeeeepppyyy room!!!

cars · Post by **cars** » Wed Oct 12, 2005 2:25 pm

I have to agree with the Gardners that say NO, 4 is too young! Does a 4 year old "truly really understand" what does "just fake" really mean? Especially when some costumed "Creepy Masked" kid jumps out from the dark shadows & comes up growling to her!!! Why take the chance at this young age, she'll have plenty of time in years to come to have the cr*p scared out of her!!! :wah:

cars · Post by **cars** » Wed Oct 12, 2005 3:35 pm

tmbsgrl wrote: My husband has dressed up as some pretty awful scary things for Halloween. He has scared her a time or 2 but she laughs and thinks "its cool" She loves to be scared she says.. She doesn't cry.. Like i said she HAS seen Freddy, Jason, pumpkinhead, Mike myers. she watches them like she watches a disney movie. Yeah she jumps but so do I! She really does know it is all pretend. Tim has always dressed as something terrifying for Halloween so I think it is because of him she is not scared. She knows that all the monsters out on Halloween is either someone's daddy, son or brother and they are just playing dress up..

But anyway.. We have agreed not to take her after all. Were just taking her to a pumpkin patch to get her own pumpkins. But i think it is a haunted one. Supposed to be kid friendly!

That's probably a better thing to do, it's better to be safe than sorry!!! Your daughter sees her daddy putting on or taking off the costume, so she really does know that's him under there. As for the movies that's on a screen, not real life, so it's really not the same. At Halloween out on the streets, many of the little scary "monsters" are holding their momies & or daddys hand, or walking close to them, so it's reassuring.

Well, good luck, & have a HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

nvalleyvee · Post by **nvalleyvee** » Wed Oct 12, 2005 8:44 pm

Go with your kid so you can sweep them up in your arms if there is fear.

Dizz · Post by **Dizz** » Wed Oct 12, 2005 8:52 pm

I'm glad you decided not to take her to the haunted house, wait until she's 6 or so.

In most areas, there are community centers and schools that hold Halloween parties or Fall festivals. Look into that, it should be great fun. Even a lot of malls have store to store trick or treating... bring friends!

nvalleyvee · Post by **nvalleyvee** » Wed Oct 12, 2005 9:16 pm

Tmb - I think you will do fine - you know your child....the first scare is the time you go home :-4 Lots of kids are scared of the circus because of the clowns at this age or younger..