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Forum -> Parenting our children -> School age children
6-year old son "freaked out" by Marvelous Middos M



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morahmommy




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Apr 23 2009, 10:51 am
Okay, I know it's a weird subject, but I'm at my wits end. My son who is actually almost seven always tended to have very specific fears. Like, he was very scared of clowns and "dressed up" adults when he was a bit younger- getting over it now. I've always been very understanding and sympathetic. I really don't make a big deal about it. We got the Oorah pesach DVD in the mail and my son literally is terrified. At first, I was like, ok so we won't watch it, no problem. But it's manifested itself in every part of his day. For example, he didn't want to go to one of the bathrooms in my mil's house over yom tov because there was a bottle of green shampoo and green reminds him of "Dr. Doomshtein"- that type of thing. He will not go anywhere by himself- by this I mean the bathroom, his bedroom- this is for a kid who actually valued his privacy before. I am basically losing my patience. My question is- this has been going on for about a month- should I just wait it out or do you think he needs further help (as in counseling, etc.)?
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Mrs.K




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Apr 23 2009, 10:56 am
I have no real advice, but for the record, my daughter is 6 and has never displayed any real fears until we got that Oorah DVD in the mail. She is absolutely terrified of that whole part and frankly, I think they picked a particularly scary part of the story to portray on the DVD. I have no idea why the puppets couldn't have acted out a much less intense part of the tape.
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rb




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Apr 23 2009, 10:58 am
I was always creeped out by "Dr Doomshtein", the voice, sound affects, its very scary for a little kid! I wonder what Abie Rottenberg was thinking.
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ss321




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Apr 23 2009, 11:36 am
The part with the space ship terrified me to the point that I was scared to get on an airplane because it flies in the air
so no, your son isnt crazy
the fact that it has been going on for a month...well thats a bit long
is he just scared and expressing that fear to you verbally? or is he literally having panic attacks.

I think there should be some warnings with MMM. it can be quite scary 4 little kids embarrassed
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morahmommy




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Apr 23 2009, 12:20 pm
Well, thanks for all your reassurances. I feel a little better now. He is definitely very verbal and specific about his fears. Like I mentioned in the original post, I've never teased him or belittled him about his fears, so he feels very comfortable letting me know exactly what scares him. I don't know what you mean by panic attacks. He only got really hysterical one time over yom tov when he had to go to sleep in a room alone without his brother and he was really nervous. Is that considered a panic attack?
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chaylizi




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Apr 23 2009, 12:26 pm
My daughter (who is 6) won't let me turn on the second tape at all. I think it's the tape, not your child.
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gryp




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Apr 23 2009, 12:39 pm
Add me to the list, I used to have nightmares about Dr. Doomshtein, and this is from the tape, not the video.

I don't let my kids listen to the end of the first volume, I always turn it off. They did watch the video though (youtube) and I kept asking them if they were scared, and they were actually laughing at it so I left it on. This is my 5 and 3 yr old though, not my younger ones. My 2 yr old is petrified out of his mind of any puppets, even on videos he's watched a hundred times, he refuses to watch them any more.
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leomom




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Apr 23 2009, 12:49 pm
Honestly, I don't know why the people who make videos for kids think it's a good idea to make them scary. And even when they're not scary, they're flashy and overwhelming and loud and bizarre.

Why do they think kids need to be sitting on the edge of their seats, blinking at the rapidly changing computer-animated colors, watching creepy characters float around making strange noises?

Why not make simple, childlike, creative, inspiring, interesting videos for kids to enjoy and learn from?
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Hashem_Yaazor




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Apr 23 2009, 12:51 pm
My 2 year old started screaming as soon as he saw Dr. Middos, never mind Dr. Doomshtein. He keeps on talking about the "stary" CD. I guess it's good I don't let my kids watch these things so we don't have to have fights that my 3.5 year old would want to watch it (he saw it at his grandparents')....
I'm currently working on "doggy" fears my 2 year old has with pictures of dogs and stuffed animals. It did NOT help that my brother pretended the teddy bear was saying hi to him -- that makes it more real.
And it also didn't help that over Y"T there were 2 dogs on the loose who were running around our stroller.
Smile
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bashinda




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Apr 23 2009, 12:52 pm
when we got the free zeide video in the mail, DD who was probably 3 1/2 at the time refused to watch it because of the fire scenes at the end.

Same thing for the first middos machine video because of the last 2 minutes with dr. doomshtein. That was a year later.

it took her a long time to also get over the short section where malkali talks about the lion attacking noach in her bereishis video.
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Hashem_Yaazor




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Apr 23 2009, 12:52 pm
GR wrote:
Add me to the list, I used to have nightmares about Dr. Doomshtein, and this is from the tape, not the video.

I don't let my kids listen to the end of the first volume, I always turn it off. They did watch the video though (youtube) and I kept asking them if they were scared, and they were actually laughing at it so I left it on. This is my 5 and 3 yr old though, not my younger ones. My 2 yr old is petrified out of his mind of any puppets, even on videos he's watched a hundred times, he refuses to watch them any more.
How could I forget puppets? He's terrified! We had to hide the ones my parents have because he was afraid they'd eat him.
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realeez




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Apr 23 2009, 4:54 pm
Dr. Doomshtein (the voice of him) was my grade 8 teacher and I was scared of him lol!

My son at around age 2-3 was scared of Uncle Moishy, Grover (never watched sesame street but from the sesamestreet.com game and refused to wear the diapers for quite a while!), and probably some others too. My dd is scared of clowns and this doll my parents bought her, and the Chuck E Cheese Mouse (to the point that she sometimes refuses to go in and play). Certain amount of fear is normal - just keep an eye on it.
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Mama Bear




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Apr 23 2009, 5:11 pm
LOL my 3.5 yr old son and I are watching it now for the 2nd time. he loves it. he's obsessed with it. he keeps asking me, who went to rescue dizzy? etc etc. he doesnt really undderstand english so keep having to explain the story to him.
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thegetrealcoach




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Apr 23 2009, 5:15 pm
Sounds like you've really been validating his feelings. I have never seen these videos but they do sound scary.

My son was in gan in the camp my husband and I were working in and on one of the last days they showed them the movie "The Prince of Egypt." He could not sleep alone for months (he was four at the time). He recently asked if he could watch it again and I reminded him how terrified he was. He's six now and I think I'd like to wait another year or two (I was traumatized by his reaction Very Happy)
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anonymom




 
 
    
 

Post Tue, May 25 2010, 10:44 pm
My son was also terrified to watch the CD alone, but he was much younger.
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SivanMom




 
 
    
 

Post Tue, May 25 2010, 10:55 pm
DS was scared of it the first couple times he heard the cds, but then he got over it and now he is absolutely obsessed. He listens to them all the time, his play time usually includes some sort of satellite or rocket, and dr. doomshtein is his villain of choice. The couple of times he saw the dvd at my parent's, he was in seventh heaven. DD, 22 months also loves both the cds and dvds, and sings along with them.
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skinny




 
 
    
 

Post Tue, May 25 2010, 11:01 pm
THATS FUNNY MY 4 YR OLD SON LOVES THE NEW OORAH MASHAL MAN BUT HE MAKES ME WATCH IT WITH HIM CUZ HES SCARED( THE PART IN THE FOREST) LOL
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c.c.cookie




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, May 26 2010, 1:18 am
First of all, I have to agree with many of you, that the whole thing is not that great for kids - I always felt the tape was too scary, although I myself LOVED it as a kid.
As far as how to deal with it, I would treat it like any other fear. Validate his feelings, sympathize, and supply lots of information. In this case I would sit him down, and teach him all about spaceships, etc. and really go through the story and see what's real and what's just make believe. Once it's clear to him what's truth and what's fantasy he might not be so scared. (It sounds crazy, but he might not know on his own which parts are purely imagination. You have to supply him with that information). Maybe sit with him and create his own made up scary character so he has experience in how it's done. Good luck!
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