Horror Movie Kids

photo credit: http://moviesonline.ca

I cannot be the only one...who while watching a scary movie that has children as part of the plot finds themselves yelling at the parents on the screen, "What are you doing? Get your kid out of there!" I have found myself unable to suspend reality long enough to enjoy a scary movie since becoming a mother, at least not a movie in which parents act like bystanders in situations where their children are in dire danger.

Before my days of motherhood I happily watched movies like The Exorcist and Poltergeist with grinding teeth and knotted fist, but no longer can I be frightened by a child centered horror movie without my mom instincts kicking in.  I stare at the tortured family on the screen and ask, aloud to the dismay of those around me, why is this family still there.  Whether it be chairs moving out from the dining room table on their own or a dark stalking figure seen on the property in the shadows, I can't help myself from thinking why didn't those people run at the first creepy incident.  I am completely aware that if they did vacate the premises so early into the action that there would be no story, no drama, and I wouldn't be watching a movie, but, alas my mom brain never takes a vacation.

I cannot be the only one that feels scary movies are ruined for them when they became a parent, can I?