why i utterly suck

For some reason last night Andy wanted to read Rikki Tikki Tavi. The book was mine when I was a kid and consists of stills from the movie and a condensed version of the plot. But, it's still a book about snakes who want to kill people.

Perhaps it was the nausea or the fact that I was distracted by how badly the Steelers were playing, but I agreed to read it to him, somehow not really hearing the little voice in my head that said, "No! Bad parent!"

So 4 pages into the book the two cobras, Nag and Nagaina, are plotting the death of the family, hiding in the bathroom. And it's at this point where I realize I've made a huge mistake. But I didn't put the book down because then it would have been even more apparent that there was something in the story for a little boy to be terrified of. Rather, I began editing. Alas, it's pretty hard to edit when the entirety of the plot, once again, revolves around snakes who want to kill people.

I did my best but should have followed my initial instincts to close the book. How do I know this?

Because 30 seconds after we kissed him goodnight and closed the door he began to sob. I thought, "Oh crap," and went back in there. And he was sitting in the dark clutching his Booba and he said, "Mommy I just had a dream about bad snakes in the bathroom!"

D'oh!