Just an idea here how about talking about Grand Parents ???? We love to play a part in our kids kids life....

I know what you're saying, Patty. It's happened to me over and over again. We do not tolerate any sort of bad language in our home or elsewhere. "Crap" is even a bad word in our house. It's just unnecessary to use that kind of language when there are alternatives that aren't offensive to people. Best to teach them alternatives than let them think the real words are acceptable. But that's just my opinion.

However, I think it's sad to go to a movie targeted at young children and leave feeling like you've just been taken advantage of. I've had that feeling on several occasions and not just from the language used. One that comes to mine is the Princess and the Frog. How wrong could it go, right? But when the voodoo started and evil spirits began rising from the ground, how exactly could I go home and explain to my 3-year-old what was going on there?? I had NO idea voodoo was in that movie. I hadn't done my research and assumed it was a fairy tale about a princess and a frog.

I know this sort of "good vs. evil" has been a part of many Disney and other children's movies through the years, but it seems they are definitely becoming more liberal with the extent to which they're taking the themes.

Here are some useful websites to use as a reference if you're interested in getting movie info prior to bringing the little ones along:

http://www.commonsensemedia.org/
http://www.kids-in-mind.com/
http://safemoviesforkids.com/
http://kidsmovienight.com/

Well...movies these days are definitely going in a different direction than they used to, however, I don't know if I would say that any of the children movies that I have seen I felt taken advantage of. I think in this day and age, being the world around us is changing so greatly, it is important to be honest with our children and expose them to things from our standpoint, so their exposure isn't from strangers and their own influences. I think that the news, public television, commercials, media in general, have taken a more liberal approach to everything...from children's movies to even children's toys. I feel, the most appropriate way to handle this, is to be informed of the movie you are seeing, know what the storyline is about and be prepared at the end to openly discuss it with your child, regardless of what the information in it is. Because, just like the movie Princess and The Frog you may have felt was not a good choice for your child to see, a teacher may show it in school or a friend's mother may have it on....& then, it is just a movie that goes unexplained from your standpoint. So, I don't know if you need to avoid the movies totally, but just interact with them in a different way.

It's a shame, though, that we even have to have these discussions. Coming from growing up where walking to school was not life threatening and listening to people talk wasn't a possible assault on the ears...it's a shame, we have to transcend these issues w/children so small.