One author, who will remain nameless--but only for a few seconds, loves to write scary stories. According to her, her children all like horror movies. I thought it was maybe--genetic. After all, three adult siblings enjoying horror stories seemed more than a coincidence, and I'm not a firm believer that a parent can make a child like or dislike something. If that were the case, imagine a world where children eat their vegetables, turn up their noses at chocolate cake, and flatly refuse to go near a mud puddle.
Then I read the blog the author, a single parent, wrote about raising her children. I envisioned a Saturday night at her house when the little ones were growing up, and the author, sitting in a room with only the glare of the television lighting the area. Her three young children are around her, watching the B/W version of Dracula or Psycho. At every scary moment, they all jump as one.
But they're all huddled together, and every time they get scared, they're also surrounded by the people who they love most, and who love them most. So when they jump, they bump into their security. No matter what happens onscreen, the children know they're safe, and their family is right there with them. The hands that are reaching out to grab them are reassuring. The more frightening the story--the more the children are aware of their family.
It turned the focus of the image from Norman Bates to Norman Rockwell. I could see the painter's version of the scene, and I now understand why Alicia Dean's children all like horror stories.
Alicia Dean's revealing blog post about her children is at:
http://rosesofprose.blogspot.com/2014/04/failingsucceeding-as-parent-by-alicia.html
Then I read the blog the author, a single parent, wrote about raising her children. I envisioned a Saturday night at her house when the little ones were growing up, and the author, sitting in a room with only the glare of the television lighting the area. Her three young children are around her, watching the B/W version of Dracula or Psycho. At every scary moment, they all jump as one.
But they're all huddled together, and every time they get scared, they're also surrounded by the people who they love most, and who love them most. So when they jump, they bump into their security. No matter what happens onscreen, the children know they're safe, and their family is right there with them. The hands that are reaching out to grab them are reassuring. The more frightening the story--the more the children are aware of their family.
It turned the focus of the image from Norman Bates to Norman Rockwell. I could see the painter's version of the scene, and I now understand why Alicia Dean's children all like horror stories.
Alicia Dean's revealing blog post about her children is at:
http://rosesofprose.blogspot.com/2014/04/failingsucceeding-as-parent-by-alicia.html
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