My daughter finally wants to watch Buffy, but...

[Ethan Reigns]

I was babysitting two kids one night (both younger than yours) and fell asleep. When I woke up, they were watching Poltergeist II and the reaction was not what I expected. They were laughing their fool heads off at the native American ghost/spirit taking a chain saw and trying to cut the station wagon in half. This was like Wile E. Coyote but with a vengeful spirit like in "Pangs". They didn't get that this was supposed to be horror.

Your daughter is going to grow up. She will have questions about sex and in this era when the age of puberty has fallen to an all-time low, she will need answers long before you are comfortable with the idea. Do you want the answers to come from schoolyard "experts" or do you want her to get correct information? Since there is a considerable LGBT population on this board, I can remember the first schoolyard explanation of what a homosexual was (as it applied to Liberace) - they said he was a man but he had some female parts and I was trying to imagine it. The idea I came up with was that he was a hermaphrodite. Yup, schoolyard expertise at its finest. Chances are that the sex will go over her head until puberty hits. I wouldn't stress about it - I have seen people who will never grow up and that is a lot scarier.

 

[thrasherpix]

^^

That reminds me, I overheard one middle school girl tell another (on a public bus) that she couldn't shave her legs because other girls were with her and to shave with them present would make her gay. 🙄

 

[cryptwarmer]

I was the youngest of 6 kids, the oldest being 15 yrs older than me, and I grew up fast and was exposed to things I definitely wouldn't have had I been a first/only child.

People say the baby of the family is, well, "babied". But we're also a lot worldlier and get exposed to more of life (and have the crap beaten out of us) at a younger age.

Parents change with each additional kid as well. By the time you get to #6...you're not worrying about them seeing sex on TV. Is your daughter your first?

These kinds of things are rights of passage for parents too. We have to learn to deal with our kids moving on into a world where we can't filter or even slow things down for them. It's also about us dealing with how we learned the ropes of life.

I would be such an immature, ignorant, idiot if I had't had kids. They "raised" me, in a different way, as much as my parents did. There are so many things I never would have done or tackled if I hadn't had my kids and their challenges to propel me forward.

They are all grown up now...now my grandson gets to prod me to bigger and better things. Even so, I pick and choose which Buffies to show him. Mostly because I don't want to have to be up with him having nightmares over the scarier monsters. For some reason I had no problem letting him see Giles as a Fyarl demon though. I can't resist any episode that has Ethan in it.

 

[Biff]

Ok, I might just give it a miss then. 🙁 Wait till she is older.

Honestly i think thats best. I cant remember much sex stuff on Angel or Firefly,maybe try those instead?

 

[Fuffy Baith]

Maybe just stick with season 1 for now. They don't actually show Buffy and Angel having sec in Surprise, they just kiss and then he wakes up in bed naked. Just explain that he lost his soul because Buffy made him really happy. No need to explain the sex. But I get it, I want to get my 13 yr old niece into the show, but only the first 3 seasons. After that there's a lot of sex and season 6 is not appropriate. I think 15 is a good age to watch the show as a whole. Maybe I'm just more conservative.

 

[ILLYRIAN]

Nix if you do go to the trouble of telling your daughter of what episodes she can watch, you should get a laugh out of it. Tell her that on the third time of watching those episodes she will get to see the different ending.

 

[Stoney]

My daughter is nine and to be honest I have told her she is too young to watch BtVS. It is hard to know what will be understood and what would just go over their heads I think. I watched some films at her age that were certificated way past my age and I didn't 'get' it on a level that caused me any issues, but I think a tv series is perhaps a little different. You get invested in the characters and their stories a whole lot more and there is a lot of complex stuff going on in BtVS, a lot darker in the later seasons too. Although I think some of that would pass her by I'm not sure I want her to watch Spike's story and not understand why he needs his soul and why it was an issue for him/Buffy to be together before he did. Reducing him down to just a sexy bad boy makes my mama bear persona rear its head! It is a tough call and I think you have to go by the individual child somewhat but I think early/mid teens is more appropriate for the show. I want her to understand it a little really and I wouldn't want to miss episodes or not complete it because I'm a purist and believe it spoils the show if you don't watch it in chronological order!