Suffering the curse of the pouty fairy

Mia's mimicking of Tinker Bell was a harsh lesson in being careful about what you let your kids watch. Photo / Supplied

Opinion

That Tinker Bell is an evil little fairy. The seemingly harmless wee pixie from Peter Pan has been the source of great upheaval and wickedness in our household.

For a good two weeks after we gave Mia - who turned two at the end of December - a DVD of the sulky fairy's latest adventures, my lovely little girl turned mean and huffy.

She was telling her nanas, great aunts, and me (I was the worst hit by the way), to "go away" whenever we came near her.

We thought we were doing so well raising a sweet little girl who, admittedly, also has a fair bit of attitude.

During that two weeks, which thankfully came to an end a few days ago - although some "go away"s still slip out - I hardly changed her nappy because she wouldn't let me. Only mum could do it. And there were very few hugs either.

Occasionally, when I went in to get her in the morning, she would cower in the corner of her cot and say those hurtful and horrible words.

Then one day, when Mia struck a sulky pose, her bottom lip almost dragging on the ground, my wife clicked as to why her behaviour was awry. It was that bloody Tinker Bell.

In one scene she snaps at her best friend Terence to "go away" and throughout the movie that sulky pout is in full effect.

Of course, we felt stupid for giving her something that is - probably - not age appropriate.

But hey, Tinker Bell? Surely little Tink is okay? She shouldn't be dangerous.

My sister had a similar experience when her nearly four-year-old was wandering around swiping people as if he was a dinosaur after watching a new DVD he was given.

I always knew kids were influenced by what they watched but until Tinker Bell I never realised how much they soak up and how quickly they start mimicking the behaviour.

It was a harsh lesson in being careful about what you let your kids watch.

And when we thought about it we also realised the vast difference between the grown up escapades of Tinker Bell and someone like lovely little Chloe of Chloe's Closet on Playhouse Disney.

So I'm planning on being like the chief censor and giving out R-rated certificates galore.

Well, not quite.

But it's back to Playhouse Disney for Mia, and her nice friends Chloe, Tigger and Pooh, and, dare I say it, the Wiggles.