Scary Toys

I fully expect any kid to be afraid of Darth Vader's mask or some of those action figures fashioned after alien movies. What I didn't expect was String Bean's reaction to some of her Christmas presents. Elmo Live was under our tree. At first, he was funny. Then he came closer to her. Forget it. She cowers when he gets too close or when he starts laughing. You'd think he was a monster. Oh, wait...he is.

String Bean also got a book about farm animals. (For the life of me, I can't find you a link to the product to see it.) It is called the Push and Pop Farm Book. It has a little wheel you spin on the edge of each page and a cardboard photo of an animal pops up from between the pages. All it takes is catching sight of that book, and a look of disapproval shows on String Bean's face. If she can get her hands on it, she hands it to whoever is the closest and shakes her head "no." Forget about opening it, or even worse, popping up the photos. She loses all her composure and tears start falling.

I don't see what is so scary about these toys. After all, they don't make that horrible sound the vacuum cleaner makes!