I scared my 3.5 yr old & I feel like an asshole

[itsme]

Aww pobresito. Reassure him, hug him, hold him. They take so much in at that age and don't understand it. I've run into similar situations with my 4 year old and end up feeling the same way you did.

I think in a few more years he'll be able to understand it better.

[redwino]

Oh poor thing. I'm sorry. I don't think you could have predicted his reaction. Maybe emphasize when he first wakes up that he's going to school and give him extra hugs and cuddling. I would take that particular book out of his collection for a while. Hugs.

[DesertMoon]

Oh no! Poor fella. It's ok I think your handling it fine. My MIL brought a kids Tom Sawyer book and it talked about a slave and my 4 yr old had 100 questions. I answered them all and at the end he said, but mommy, all people are just people. It's hard to fathom at this age.

[raangoli]

Oh no

I agree with redwino. And maybe some extra hugs and reassurance that you're not going anywhere.

[meshaliuknits]

Oh no! Poor little guy.

BabyLiu has a similar upset around that age when we read some fairytale (Cinderella?) where the mom died. She spent the next couple of days needing reassurance that I wasn't going to die. Keep reassuring him & I hope it runs course quickly.

[busybodyk]

3 books every night?! You are a saint!

Seriously though I am sorry you had such a rough night. It scares me to think that I will have to explain this kind of stuff to my baby girl.

[andwhat]

I first read this as I am scared OF my 3.5 year old and I was like WTF board am I on.

I am sorry S was scared and that he had a rough night. Sometimes I don't know what DD is getting and what is going over her head. I don't want to have to explain this kind of stuff to her. Hugs.

[anna7602]

I'm sorry you had a rough night, @natariru. It's so hard to calculate what our kids will understand/focus on at different ages. It still happens to me sometimes with my 8-year-old.

[barcelonagirl]

Hugs mama!

[threejs]

Aww, hugs to you and S. It's so hard to know what will and won't work at this age. The good thing is that kids are resilient. At 8, my DD remembers a book that scared her at 4, but she laughs about it now.