![\"download\"](\"https:\/\/thecautiousmom.files.wordpress.com\/2016\/09\/download.jpeg?w=616&resize=300%2C168\")
<\/a><\/p>\nYes, we are talking about the stupid, evil clown movie. \u00a0I know, I know… it wasn\u2019t even THAT GOOD, but dude \u2013 I can\u2019t. \u00a0Not anymore.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m not even afraid of clowns and this movie freaks me out. \u00a0Actually, if I’m completely honest, that might not even be true\u2026 it isn\u2019t the movie itself and it isn’t the clowns, it\u2019s the idea of the kidnappings and how\/where they happen. When I first saw this movie, it was a mini-series on network television and I was\u00a0a child. \u00a0A home-schooled, sheltered, innocent child who knew absolutely nothing about the world. \u00a0I saw it from my perspective and the older brother was the most relatable character. \u00a0The clown didn’t scare me as much as the way the child had been lured away so easily and the haunting image of that red balloon stuck with me for years.<\/p>\n
Now that I’m grown with children of my own, I see it from a new perspective. \u00a0A helpless parent perspective and there is\u00a0a good reason why I have never been willing to be a helpless parent but instead, a proactive, protective and cautious parent.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s reasons why I park 10 feet away from storm drains and white-knuckle my kid\u2019s arms as we walk over them (which only happens if it\u2019s completely inappropriate for me to walk a few feet around them to avoid them altogether). \u00a0Anyone who has ever driven with me can attest to the fact that I will go around in circles looking for a parking spot to open up, even if there is one right in front of the place I’m going, if it sits right in front of an open storm drain. \u00a0I have told both of my children not to play near them, put their hands in them, not to look too long down the holes\u2026 and the reason is that creepy, anglerfish-demon-monster-spider with a clown lure.<\/p>\n
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Oh, have I mentioned I have severe arachnophobia? Heh.. yeah, there’s that, too.<\/p>\n
Also, storm drains are just gross and dirty. \u00a0They\u00a0smell bad and you shouldn\u2019t get too close because you can slip and fall inside them never to be seen again. \u00a0Also alligators. \u00a0It could happen. \u00a0No, really. \u00a0Look it up. \u00a0Google “stuck in storm drain” and you’ll see. \u00a0Go on, I’ll wait…<\/p>\n
So, what else is there about this movie that is so disturbing? \u00a0Well, two things.<\/p>\n
1- Kids don’t listen. \u00a0The kids in this movie are constantly putting themselves in harm’s way. \u00a0It’s a parent’s freaking nightmare with the whole, “let’s pretend we’re monster killers and go after the creature that stole baby brother” thing like they actually had a single chance in hell of being successful. \u00a0Look. \u00a0I get it, it’s a movie. \u00a0That’s cool, I mean, really – who didn’t want to be a member of The Goonies or ride around in the Mystery Machine when we were kids? \u00a0Total daydream, right? \u00a0Except for the fact that\u00a0in real life, here in 2016, if some kid decides to take a cue from this movie or any of the other “kids save the world” 80’s nostalgia flicks thinking they actually CAN beat the bad guys, they’re gonna wind up dead. \u00a0In real life, bad guys have guns, knives, zip-ties, the dark web and way too many connections. \u00a0My advice for kids today thinking they can fight this kind of danger? \u00a0These people’ll kidnap you and whisk you away to the land of child trafficking and slavery faster than you can say “Scooby Gang”. \u00a0Don’t assume for a single hot second that you can hold a candle to their expertise. \u00a0I guarantee you that your desire to solve a “mystery” will never match these creep’s desires to not be caught and put into federal prison which\u00a0means the likelihood of you dying is much higher than the potential of you and your Jr High gang actually being able to save your kid brother from certain doom. \u00a0Unless one of you is the chosen slayer of your generation, stay the hell home.<\/p>\n
2- FREAKING CLOWNS ARE ALL OVER THE NEWS!!! \u00a0Guys… this is not a joke. \u00a0It is not okay, it is not funny, it is not “no big deal”. \u00a0People in clown suits are walking around towns, ALL OVER the country, (hopefully) just to scare you. \u00a0That in itself isn’t such a big deal, but when the people in clown suits start actually doing terrible things like committing robberies, attempting kidnappings and forming gangs while threatening to commit random acts of violence just for fun… the clowns have gotten out of control and according to today’s news updates, it appears to not be slowing down.<\/p>\n
Why does this bother me? \u00a0Because people who genuinely do want to cause damage, inspire actual fear and possibly engage in criminal activity are going to take advantage of this new fad to dress up like scary clowns and lurk in order to get away with their nefarious activity. \u00a0This is not paranoia. \u00a0This is understanding the psychology behind people who like to do bad things. \u00a0I recently spoke to a specialist in the field of mental health for\u00a0the criminally insane who absolutely believes we should take this whole thing very seriously. Why? \u00a0This is exactly the kind of thing the people she deals with every day absolutely long for in our society, she said. \u00a0It’s an excuse to get away with terrible\u00a0things\u00a0because no one suspects you until it is too late. \u00a0If it continues she said, there is no doubt we will see a rise in criminal activity from these seemingly harmless nuisances.<\/p>\n
An attempted kidnapping of a 1 year old by a clown took place just last week. \u00a0This morning, a “clown gang” announced they are going to be engaging in crimes and let people know to “just wait for it”, as they will be here soon. \u00a0As of yesterday, 39 states in the US have experienced “creepy clown” sightings with no indications the fad is going to let up anytime soon. \u00a0This makes any parent a little more ill at ease, especially with Halloween approaching and not because anyone is actually worried about a giant spider monster hiding underground. \u00a0So many people will already be in costumes and how will we ever be able to tell the folks just having fun from the ones who are trying to steal our children?<\/p>\n
The sad truth of it is, we can’t. \u00a0After scary clowns were spotted in front of a local elementary school here in my own town, I decided it was time to include costumed characters in my list of “stranger danger” people with my children for the first time. \u00a0Some may consider this unnecessary, but I say, why take a chance when it’s so easily preventable with a few measures of precaution taken?<\/p>\n
So…. where are the clowns? \u00a0Should we send in the clowns…?<\/p>\n
Don’t bother. \u00a0They’re here.<\/p>\n
![\"itpennywise\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/forbiddenpanel.com\/PanelCast\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/ItPennywise.jpg?resize=300%2C169\")
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Tomorrow, we continue on the path of truth hidden in fiction where we will talk about one of the most notorious\u00a0houses in the country. \u00a0Keep an eye out for tomorrow’s romp into the spirit world where true stories and haunted tales that make mothers cringe come together.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Welcome to our countdown to the most anxiety-inducing horror films for parents! \u00a0Today\u00a0is day twelve. Each day, we are covering the films I both love and hate because they\u2019re awesome and they give me panic attacks now that I\u2019m a mom. Okay, before we even get started, I\u00a0admit, today’s entry is a bit more serious […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false},"categories":[4,9,14],"tags":[505,503,504,506,507],"class_list":["post-13675","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog-and-reviews","category-lessons-from-the-mother-ship","category-news","tag-clownocalypse","tag-creepy-clowns","tag-horror-movies-to-haunt-parents","tag-it","tag-stephen-king"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1opIU-3yz","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":13598,"url":"http:\/\/forbiddenpanel.com\/PanelCast\/horror-film-countdown-day-4-movies-anxious-parents-should-avoid\/","url_meta":{"origin":13675,"position":0},"title":"Horror Film Countdown Day 4 \u2013 Movies Anxious Parents Should Avoid","author":"Janelle","date":"October 4, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0 Welcome to our countdown to the most anxiety-inducing horror films for parents! \u00a0Today we are on day four and today, I admit.. I kind of cheated. Each day, we are covering the films I both love and hate because they\u2019re awesome and they give me panic attacks now that\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blogs\/Reviews\/Stories"","block_context":{"text":"Blogs\/Reviews\/Stories","link":"http:\/\/forbiddenpanel.com\/PanelCast\/category\/blog-and-reviews\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"trickrtreat","src":"http:\/\/i1.wp.com\/forbiddenpanel.com\/PanelCast\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/trickrtreat.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":13577,"url":"http:\/\/forbiddenpanel.com\/PanelCast\/horror-film-countdown-movies-anxious-parents-should-avoid\/","url_meta":{"origin":13675,"position":1},"title":"Horror Film Countdown Day 1 – Movies Anxious Parents Should Avoid","author":"Janelle","date":"October 1, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Happy Halloween season, everyone! \u00a0It's October 1st and officially Halloween time, so here- have a countdown list! \u00a0It's a fun, little exploration inside the mind of a\u00a0parent with anxiety who also love horror films! Each day we will cover an aspect of my personal brand of crazy as it relates\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blogs\/Reviews\/Stories"","block_context":{"text":"Blogs\/Reviews\/Stories","link":"http:\/\/forbiddenpanel.com\/PanelCast\/category\/blog-and-reviews\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"trickrtreat","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/forbiddenpanel.com\/PanelCast\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/trickrtreat-300x200.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":13596,"url":"http:\/\/forbiddenpanel.com\/PanelCast\/horror-film-countdown-day-3-movies-anxious-parents-should-avoid\/","url_meta":{"origin":13675,"position":2},"title":"Horror Film Countdown Day 3 \u2013 Movies Anxious Parents Should Avoid","author":"Janelle","date":"October 3, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"If you haven't stopped by so far this month, let me sum up; Lessons From the Mothership is doing a Halloween countdown just for parents!! Each day, we are covering the films I both love and hate because they're awesome and they give me panic attacks. \u00a0These are 31 of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blogs\/Reviews\/Stories"","block_context":{"text":"Blogs\/Reviews\/Stories","link":"http:\/\/forbiddenpanel.com\/PanelCast\/category\/blog-and-reviews\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"trickrtreat","src":"http:\/\/i1.wp.com\/forbiddenpanel.com\/PanelCast\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/trickrtreat.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":13582,"url":"http:\/\/forbiddenpanel.com\/PanelCast\/horror-film-countdown-day-2-movies-anxious-parents-should-avoid\/","url_meta":{"origin":13675,"position":3},"title":"Horror Film Countdown Day 2 – Movies Anxious Parents Should Avoid","author":"Janelle","date":"October 2, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"To recap this series; Each day we will cover an aspect of my personal brand of crazy as it relates to the films I love and how they affect me as a mom by listing the most anxiety-inducing films I, personally, have ever seen. 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Each day, we are covering the films I both love and hate because they\u2019re awesome and they give me panic attacks now that I\u2019m a mom. 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<\/p>\n![\"download\"](\"https:\/\/thecautiousmom.files.wordpress.com\/2016\/09\/download.jpeg\")
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