4 year old scared about Paroah

dragoneye126

Tue, Mar 31 2020, 8:56 pm

I have this exact problem in my home. My 4 year old was traumatized by a scary Pesach play, and oy, it's been tough! I consulted with the school psychologist, and the advice we received was to.... not talk about it. So we focus on general themes of freedom, miracles, springtime, etc. and just kind of skip over the part about how we used to work so hard. For example, we talk about how being free means that we can do the things that make us happy and are good for us, it's sad that we couldn't do those things in Mitzrayim, and we are so grateful to Hashem that we are free now. Practically, we limit the Pesach songs to ones that don't mention Paraoh, and we're kind of hoping that she'll fall asleep before Magid (she never naps and likes to go to bed early). It's been frustrating because her school, and even some people in our family, didn't really get that this is so scary for her. We will re-evaluate as she gets older, and we know that having such a kind, sweet, empathetic child is a bracha, even if it means that we have to work a little harder Smile

SuperWify

Tue, Mar 31 2020, 10:39 pm

So frustrating!

I’ve noticed my sons Morah downplayed the story. Ie- He learned that Vashti was told “go away” when she was really hanged and same for Haman who wanted to make a booboo for the Jews. Dont know how you can try to dumb the Pesach story down for your kid. But maybe say Pharoh made the Yidden work so hard so Hashem punished him very badly...

This reminds me btw, of when my then 4 year old sister - an extremely sensitive child - came home from school Pesach time after already learning about pharaoh in parshas shemos. Her eyes were wide open in terror and she ran to my mother screaming, “mommy!! Paroh came back!!”

imasoftov

Wed, Apr 01 2020, 7:04 am

SuperWify wrote:

I’ve noticed my sons Morah downplayed the story. Ie- He learned that Vashti was told “go away” when she was really hanged

The Megillah is doesn't say what was done to her, only that she would be replaced as queen. There are midrashim that she was killed, but I haven't found one that says she was hanged.

SuperWify

Wed, Apr 01 2020, 9:34 am

imasoftov wrote:

The Megillah is doesn't say what was done to her, only that she would be replaced as queen. There are midrashim that she was killed, but I haven't found one that says she was hanged.

Wow. I was taught she was hanged.
Either way, Haman was hanged so my point still stands.

PinkFridge

Wed, Apr 01 2020, 10:05 am

Maybe you could try this: He was a king who had an army who would do mean things that he asked them too but he was really a silly person, like he thought he could fool people into believing that he had special powers, like not having to use the bathroom. And the song Paroah in Pajamas also cuts him down to size.