R.O.U.S.'s

R.O.U.S.'s: the things nightmares are made of. All of you Princess Bride fans out there (and who ISN'T a Princess Bride fan?) already know that the acronym stands for Rodents of Unusual Size.
Last night Aaron, Morgan and I watched that movie. Morgan always watches movies with us and can stay pretty well entertained. I haven't worried much about the content of the movies being viewed by such young eyes yet because I thought he was TOO young to notice things or care.
So we were watching the movie. Westley and Buttercup are in the Fire Swamp and have just emerged from the lightening sand. Cue R.O.U.S! Westley is tackled by a man in a giant rodent costume and wrestling commences. Aaron and I joke at how absurdly fake this creature looks. Westley is bitten in the arm by the rodent and yells in pain and fear. Then Morgan squeals in terror and points at the t.v. while jabbering in a panic. I rush to his aide and gather him in my arms. He clings to me, but twists and turns until his teary eyes can see the action on the screen. We should have just blipped through the rest of the terror scene, but we didn't. I sit Morgan on my lap and try to distract him and keep him focused on me. Now Morgan points to the screen and switches his gaze from it to me while talking animatedly. He seems happy enough now, almost as if he was embarrassed about his fear and was trying to joke it off. I'm pretty sure I picked out the word "bad" as he sized up the rat.
The scene ends with a now crispy giant rodent and Westley returns to his princess. I hold Morgan and try to tell him it wasn't real, just a game. He whimpers and cuddles.
Last night I put Morgan to bed like normal. He's been sleeping through the night for a long time now. Last night he woke up around midnight and called for "Mimi." Mommy. Aaron went in first and lied him down, gave him his sippy cup and left. But a little later he was calling for me again. I found him sitting up in his crib and whimpering. I held him and he cuddled. I sang to him and soothed him and got him to go to sleep. There was no further incident.
My poor boy! He must have had nightmares from the movie. I'd never seen Morgan effected by a movie like he was last night, and we've watched some scary movies with him! So I bought a night light today. Hopefully that helps.