I'm glad it was me

Over the Christmas break, we watched a lot of recorded movies.  One of those movies was "Fried Green Tomatoes".

"Fried Green Tomatoes" has always been one of my favorite movies and I thought it would be fun to have Elisan watch it with me.  I love the story of two friends and how their lives unfolded from childhood to adulthood.  And you can't help but love the back story about Evelyn Couch and Ninny Threadgoode, another story of friends, clinging to each other in their time of need.

So, we begun watching the movie and the part where Buddy dies on the train track was a little hard, but Elisan seemed to handle it just fine.  (I mean, heck, her favorite movies of ALL TIME are the Star Wars movies - all 1-6... so I figured the death of Buddy would be okay, in terms of her accepting it as part of the story.)

Then we see the part where Idgie goes to rescue Ruth from her abusive husband.  Ruth appears at the door with a huge black eye.  As the events unfold, we then see Ruth being kicked by her husband while on the stairs and falling to the landing floor. Well, let me just say, that took Elisan by surprise.

I had to pause the movie and explain to her that yes, violence against women is a real thing and that most times it does occur within a marriage.  I went on to explain that Idgie coming to rescue Ruth was a brave thing to do, because so many women are afraid of their husbands and what will happen to them and their children, if they do leave.

Y'all... she was truly disturbed.  She had no idea that there are men out there that abuse their wives.  NO IDEA.  But it gave me the perfect opportunity to tell her that her own daddy was a wonderful husband and that he would never hurt me.  And that my daddy was a wonderful man and never hurt my mother.  And that Randy's dad was a wonderful man and he never hurt Randy's mom and so on...  It gave me the chance to explain to her the importance of choosing a husband that not only loves and cares for her, but is also Godly man.

I'm so glad it was me that had the opportunity to discuss this with her, just the two of us... because I would hate to know that my 10 year old girl saw violence against women portrayed on television without someone stepping in and saying... that's wrong and it doesn't have to be that way.

The sad truth is, some little girls are already witnesses to abuse in their homes.  I'm blessed beyond measure that our children do not have to live that life.  That I have a husband who loves and cares for me (and them) and would do anything in this world to protect us... NOT hurt us.

As the movie progressed, I had to have similar conversations about Big George and the KKK, but again, I was glad to have to privilege to share with Elisan the truth about such inhumane acts.  There is so much ugliness in the world and I'm fortunate that it took 10 years for my girl to witness it for the first time... and thank God it was only a television portrayal.

Okay... so the question is... should I have let her see the movie in the first place?  Probably not.  The movie obviously had situations in it that were not appropriate for a ten year old.   Live and learn...

And that's why passing along this little nugget for you. That if you happen to find yourself in a situation that causes your children to pause, take a moment and give them Godly counsel, because the world is so ready and willing to desensitize our children.