March 10, 2025

We Are the Hansons - Why We Let Our Kids Watch Scary Movies

We Are the Hansons - Why We Let Our Kids Watch Scary Movies

In this episode of We Are the Hansons, we dive into the controversial topic of kids and horror movies. Why do we let our children watch scary films? From teaching important life lessons to strengthening family bonds, we discuss the benefits of facing fears through fiction. Plus, we share our favorite spooky movies, how we set boundaries, and why a little fright can be a good thing!

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Hey, everyone, welcome back to We Are the Hansens. Today,

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I'm tackling a topic that some parents might sidey us

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for why we let our kids watch scary movies. I

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know some parents have a strict no horror rule, and

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I completely respect that every kid is different and every

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family has their own way of handling case. But in

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our house, scary movies has always had a place, not

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in a let's traumatize the kids kind of way, but

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in a way that actually helps them process fear, use

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their imagination, and.

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Have fun while doing it.

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So today I'm going to break it down why we

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believe scary movies can actually be good for kids, and

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how we introduce them in a way that makes sense.

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One of the biggest reasons I don't shy away from

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scary movies is because they give kids a safe space

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to experience fear. Let's be honest, guys. Life is full

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of scary things, a lot of scary things.

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Starting a new.

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School, thunderstorms, the dark, and even just the unknown to kids.

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Kids are going to face fear in their lives. The

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difference between real life fear and scary movie A movie

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lets them feel the fear in a controlled kind of

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way they get scared, but when they realize they're safe,

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it's just a story. That realization is powerful, you know.

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I always tell my kids it's okay to be scared,

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but fear doesn't have to control them. That's such an

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important lesson to learn young. If a child can sit

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through a spooky story come out on the other side

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realizing they're okay, they're already building resilience. And the best part,

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they get to practice handling fear while snuggled up on

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a couch with mom and dad, knowing they're completely safe.

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I mean, I don't.

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Want my kids to be scared of scary things. You know,

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there's a time and place for scary You get put

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in situations daily, in very scary situations daily. It could

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be a car polls out in front of you, or

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there's somebody following you, or you know, there's a weirdo

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walking around behind you in the store, just following every

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step you take. There are scary situations all the time.

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I don't think I've gone one day without having something

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scary happen us as adults and even as older kids

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of mine, I've seen them freak out over something, maybe

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getting a cut or something like that we are in

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scary situations, and I want my kids to know when

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we watch a scary movie, it is not real. Those

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people in them movies are actors. It's a skit put on. Yes,

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there are some true story scary movies.

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I don't know.

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I feel like I'm not gonna hold that back from

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my children from seeing. I want them to know that, yes,

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this stuff could really happen, and I want them to see,

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like if it's a movie about a kidnapping, I want

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them to see, you know, what happened in that movie,

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and then we can talk about what they can do

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different so that it doesn't happen to them, and not

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saying that it wouldn't happen to them, but there's ways

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to fight your way out of somebody abducting.

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You and stuff like that.

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So, and that being said, another big reason I love

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letting my kids watch scary movies is that they're often

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amazing stories. Some of the best kids movies ever made

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have creepy elements. Look at Monster House or Goosebumps, Caroline,

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Harry Potter, even The Nightmare Before Christmas. These stories aren't

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just about scaring kids, They're about adventure, bravery, and facing

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the unknown.

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Let's be real. Kids love spooky stories.

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I've read many stories to my kids at bedtime, and

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they always want the scary ones, the ones that are

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going to leave them on the edge of their seat.

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I think about classic fairy tales, the original version of

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Little Red Riding Hood or Hansel and Gretel. Them were

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terrifying movies or stories, but kids have been drawn to

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them for centuries because they love the feeling of overcoming

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something scary. I've seen it with my own eyes with

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my own children. Kids like that rush.

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They love it.

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One minute they're scared and covering their face or covering

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their eyes and peeking out just to see, and then

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they're covering their eyes again. When I get scared when

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I watch a scary movie, I will get up and

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walk out of the room and come back.

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I do it all the time.

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Watching a scary movie with the family isn't just entertainment.

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It sparks their imagination. It makes them think, what would

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I do in that situation?

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What if monsters did exist?

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And that kind of thinking leads to creativity, problem solving,

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and even.

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A little bit of bravery in real life.

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Now, something people don't always think about when it comes

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to scary movies is how much they actually teach kids

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to think critically. Let's say we watch a I don't

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know a haunted house movie. My kids immediately start asking questions,

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why do ghost only up at night? Can they actually

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hurt people? What makes a house haunted in the first place?

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And boom, suddenly we're talking about fear logic and even

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a little bit of science happens all the time at

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our house. Or let's take a classic horror movie, like

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the movie about the group of teenagers who always make

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the worst possible decisions. My older kids love picking apart

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scary movies and pointing out exactly when the character made

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a dumb choice. Every time they're like, Mom, this is stupid.

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They could have ran, Oh, she's gonna trip and fall

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in a second. All the time they are right there

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criticizing and picking apart that movie, and that's okay. And

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guess what those conversations actually translate to real life. We've

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had so many talks about why certain decisions and scary

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movies are bad and how to make smarter choices in

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real situations. Because when you're literally running from a bad guy,

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are you really gonna trip and fall twenty times so

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he can catch you. Let's be honest. Scary movies do

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teach survival skills. You hear something weird outside, you don't

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go investigate. You stay in lit areas. If your gut

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tells you something feels off, trust it. That's not just

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horror movie logic, that's life logic. Now, with all that

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being said, I don't just throw my kids into the

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conjuring and call it a day. Every kid has different

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limits in my home, and it's so important to respect that.

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Some kids love spooky stories right away, Others need time.

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Some might be fine watching Goosebumps but have nightmares from

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Caroline and that's okay. We ease them in, starting with

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movies that are spooky but fun, like hocus Pocus that's

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kind of a scary movie, Casper the Friendly Ghost. My

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kids are scared of that one, but they actually laugh

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during watching it, The Adams Family, Monster House, and Frank Andweenie.

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From there, we move into the movies a little scarier

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but still have a sense of humor or adventure think Ghostbusters, Gremlins,

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or Beetlejuice. When are ready, we let them try out

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actual horror movies. My older kids might watch something like

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A Quiet Place or it, but sometimes my littler kids

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don't like to sit and watch those, but they do

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like to watch it. They do get scared, so we

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try and watch it when it's still a little earlier

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so that when they go to bed their brains have

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time to refresh, and we watch a cartoon after so

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it doesn't trip them up and having nightmares. Another rule

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in our house, we always talk about it after.

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I asked them what did you think?

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What was the scariest part and did you feel afraid

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or excited? Most of the time the little ones say, oh,

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that was scary, but we loved it.

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And I'll go.

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Through the movie and I'll explain, like this part, this

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is all with makeup. They do all their makeup and

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make them look really scary and sick and stuff like that.

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And I just explained through the whole movie that people

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are hired to act out these movies and make it

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scary to scare people because a lot of people like

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horror movies. This not only helps them process their feelings,

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but it also keeps them from being afraid alone. I

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don't want my kids to be alone and afraid when

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they are alone. I want them to be tough, I

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want them to be strong, and I want them to

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be aware. So let's say they did hear a sound.

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I don't want them to freak out when they hear

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every little bit of sound in the house, because there

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are days that I can sit here and I'll hear

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a sound and it's like that was the dog or

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the washer made a noise or something. My kids probably

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would be like, somebody's in the house. But my kids

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don't do that because they watch scary movies. They're not scared,

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and I'm glad for that, you know, it makes them

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feel like I asked my kids one time. We were

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watching Freddy Krueger or Halloween, I can't remember which one,

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and the girl was being chased, and I said, Torrin Anna,

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what would you.

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Do in that situation? You know what?

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They said, climb a tree and I laughed because it's smart.

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But the other person could climb a tree too. They

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would hide, they said. So if something freaks them out,

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we talk about why, and that also helps take the

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power away from the fear. At the end of the day,

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watching scary movies as a family is fun.

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For us us.

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I mean, we usually make it a weekend thing. We

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sit down as a family. I'll say what kind of

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movie you guys want to watch? Nine times out of

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ten they pick a scary movie. In fact, this past weekend,

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we just watched the movie Ma with them. It did

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scare them, but at the end they said it's fake,

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so they know. They like the feeling of being scared

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and then they're fine. There's something special about all of

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us piling onto a couch, turning off the lights and

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experiencing a little bit of fear together.

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We love that it's a bonding experience.

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We laugh when someone jumps, We poke fun of the

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silly parts. When the movie's over, we're all talking about

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our favorite part of that movie. I know a few

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times that the older kids have came in behind and

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scared the little ones.

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They're like, don't do that, don't do that. But it's

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all in fun.

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Some of my favorite memories growing up were watching scary

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movies with my siblings, and I love getting to create

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that experience with my own kids. Every time I would

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go visit my sister Courtney, her kids had friends over

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all the time, and when me and my husband Jeremy

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would go to her house, she would always have us

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put on Halloween masks and go outside and tap on

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the window and let the kids see us in the

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Halloween masks to scare them, or if they were sleeping

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in a tent. I remember one time my nephew and

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his friends were all camping out and they lived in

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the woods. It sat quite a ways back off the road,

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woods all around, and they're camping out in the tent,

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and my sister old Jeremy to put on a Halloween

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mask and go out there and drag their tent deeper

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into the woods. So he did, and they were so

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scared they were battling their way out of the tent.

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My nephew ended up running into the house. Once he

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got out, his one friend ran down the driveway trying

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to get away from Jeremy running after him, and the

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other one when he's seen Jeremy coming towards him, he.

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Was on the porch. I thought he peat himself.

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We were laughing so hard, and it's the memories those

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kids will remember that for the rest of their life

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on how fun it was and how scared they were.

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It's just something that was fun for all of us.

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So scary movies it was, and still to this day

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scary movies.

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It is in our house.

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And I know a lot of people don't let their

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kids watch scary movies, but we are a family of

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thirteen kids. To me, I'm not gonna hold that from them.

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If they want to watch a scary movie, they can

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watch it. I'm probably gonna be told I'm a bad

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parent and whatnot, but I want my kids to not

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be afraid of things.

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Watching scary movies helps.

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When I was young, I watched scary movies my parents

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let me, and I am not scared of too much stuff.

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Yeah I'll jump during a movie because yes, it gets scary,

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but it's still fun and I know it's not real. Yes,

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some stuff can happen in real life, and that's okay.

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We are enjoying our time with our family watching scary

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movies and just having fun.

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So because here's the thing.

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When kids watch scary movies with us, they're not alone

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in their fear, and they're learning how to face it,

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process it, and move on from all while having a

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great time.

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So do I think every kid should watch scary movies.

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No. If it doesn't work for your family, that's completely fine.

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It does with ours. That is our family.

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There are exciting, imaginative, and even educational experiences, so it

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does work for our family, and it's okay. Scary movies

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aren't just about fear. They're about adventure, bravery and learning

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how to handle things that make us nervous. And that's

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the skill every kid will need in life. So do

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you let your kids watch scary movies? Have they ever

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gotten really into one?

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Let me know.

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You can send me a message to we Are the

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Hansens on Facebook or send me an email on we

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Arethehansen's Show at gmail dot com. And if you would

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go over to our YouTube channel, we are the Hansens

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and subscribe. Thanks for hanging out with me today and

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I'll see you next time on We Are the Hansens