If you ask me, kids should be introduced to grown up concepts sooner. If they react poorly, then they’re weak and they need time to harden up before they face the big bad world. But I showed my son a horror movie when he was five, and he had a great time. I KNOW he had a great time, because he told me, and we’ve made watching horror films a weekly bonding activity on a Friday night. Sometimes the movie is bad, and we critique it together. That’s what makes our relationship special.
Some parents just get up in arms about this sort of thing, though. Now there’s a petition going around with all of two signatures to shut down the local birthday party venue. Sydney has more than one, fortunately, so I can easily avoid these idiots. Oh, they’re panicking because their kids went to a party venue, for a party (as in, the place where kids have fun) and they had to solve the mystery of the missing diamond. It’s this trend that’s started recently where the whole party is based around an adventure, or solving a mystery, which I think is great. But they said that diamond thievery is ‘too mature’ for the kids, and that there are frightening themes that might scare them.
Me? I want to find out who writes this stuff and commend them for their efforts. Too many parties just have a guy in a kangaroo costume doing some juggling, or…no that’s mostly it. Now they’re using their brains and solving a mystery, albeit not a really hard one, and getting some exercise at the same time as they clamber over the climbing frames on their adventure. I’m all for it. In fact, I’m going to look up every kids party venues near Sydney and make sure they’re getting in on this trend. There’s some good birthday party material here.