barnyard mess

I thought I would take a moment to tell you a funny story. Recently, my son was watching the movie Barnyard at daycare. My husband went to pick him up before he could finish watching it so he went and bought him a copy to watch at home. For those not in the know, it's a movie about a boy cow (with utters) that is put in charge of protecting the barnyard from coyotes. After watching the movie with my son I realized that it was really not suitable for a 3 yr old (there are some scary parts, death, widowed pregnant cows and some wise cracks that aren't really appropriate). After the first pass he really didn't seem to be affected by it. The scary parts didn't really bother him as much as I would have expected. He literally laughed out loud watching it so I figured it was pretty safe to let him watch it again.
Fast forward to this weekend, my son is not feeling well again and has been rather grumpy. So when he asked to watch Barnyard I thought it was a GREAT idea. Later that day we are trying to get him ready to go somewhere and he turns to me and points his finger at me and says "No!" as he looks away he mumbles "Stupid cow." I caught myself from busting out laughing and turned away and counted to 10. I tried to convince myself that he is just repeating what he heard in the movie. He really has no idea that it's not nice to say that to someone. So I explained it to him, very firmly explained it to him. "OK, Mommy" was his reply. A few hours pass and "You stupid cow!" comes flying out of his mouth. Now he is in time-out and crying, pleading and promising that he will never say it again. It was kinda funny to hear him say it, but I can put it into his frame of reference. What if he said it to someone not as understanding, like the lady at the grocery store or in a restaurant? Later, his step-brother was walking past and he called him "big-fat-brother". Back in time-out he goes. He just could not stop himself from saying these things. This time, what he said really hurt someone's feelings. His brother was visibly hurt by his comment. I could also see that he was really sorry he had said it once he knew his brother was upset. Barnyard was actually turned into a TV show and I had started recording them and spent all of last night removing them from the DVR after finding that the first 5 minutes of the 1st episode was a mantra of the phrase "Stupid-stinky…"
I had to take him to daycare and let them know that he is no longer allowed to watch the movie Barnyard and they have full authority to put him in the naughty corner if he calls anyone a name.
Now that he is watching more mainstream TV I am shocked at how many cartoons contain the word "Stupid", Scooby-doo and Charlie Brown Christmas just to name a few. Lucy is one "stupid" saying little girl!!
The same holds true for him playing "Army" at school. He comes home and holds his hands like a gun and "shoots" me. I explain that it's not nice to shoot your mother and to please not do it again. The next day he comes home and holds his hands like a gun and shoots me then says "I killed you, you're dead" I about cried. What happened to my little boy that loves Little Einsteins and sings Barney songs? Again, I understand that he has no concept of what he is saying which is exactly why he shouldn't be playing "army" at the age of 3. I don't think I am over reacting on this one. Perhaps, I should send him to boot camp since he likes the Army so much!
It's very hard to experience your kids growing up faster than what you are prepared for, at any age. I realize that I can't put him in a bubble and I also don't want to him run amok without any direction or correction. He has a very strong personality, which is not entirely a bad thing. He is just not at an age where he can filter stuff like that properly. We are both learning through trail and error I guess.