Nightmare on Sesame Street

It was supposed to be a treat. A special afternoon spent snuggling on the couch watching our beloved Sesame Street friends have an adventure in Grouchland.

I’d seen this movie before when Braden was little, before Brogan was born. We’d loved this movie back then, and both Braden and I were looking forward to sharing it with the littles.

But not long into our viewing, Brogan expressed his worry about Elmo. “How’s he going to get out of Grouchland? How will he get back home?” I tried explaining that he’ll find his way. Maybe Oscar will help him, I suggested. This seemed to pacify him somewhat, but he continued to watch the movie with a very concerned look on his face.

Later, when the greedy character played by Mandy Patinkin took Elmo’s special blanket and flew away in his helicopter, both Brogan and Colson panicked and dissolved into tears.

We stopped the movie and tried to calm them down, listening to Colson sob “He took Elmo’s blankie and won’t give it baaaaack!” When his tears subsided we talked about how this was a movie with a happy ending, and that I knew for a fact Elmo would get his blankie back. “Maybe Elmo’s friends from Sesame Street will come help him?” I suggested.

We were eventually able to finish the movie. Brogan and Colson sat with me on the couch, snuggled under a blanket and holding my hands. When the movie was done we loaded up into the car and hit the park in an effort to run off some of the tension.

Their reaction to the movie caught me completely by surprise. I mean - it’s not like I forced them to watch “Old Yeller” or “The English Patient.” This was a Sesame Street movie. It doesn’t get much tamer than Sesame Street, or so I thought.

They’ve recovered, I think, and hopefully we won’t have nightmares tonight. Maybe we'll try to catch a regular episode of Sesame Street tomorrow, so they can see that Elmo did indeed make it home. I don't know if it'll be necessary, but it'll sure make me feel better.