There will be Avengers Endgame spoilers ahead, so proceed only if you’ve seen the movie. I don’t want to be the troll who ruined the experience, but if you have kids, bookmark this article and save it for later. You might just need it.

Being a parent in this age means being an expert on the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Our kids play with the toys. They wear the costumes and re-enact every scene, sometimes to the point of nearly driving us insane.

Opening weekend, we know what we’re doing, that is if we can score tickets for opening weekend. If we can’t score the tickets, we are out of the running for parent of the year. Don’t bother trying to make it up to the little munchkins. It’s over.

Usually, being the parent of a superhero junkie is kind of fun. Kids have impressive imaginations, and watching those imaginations soar to new heights with their favorite characters is almost more delightful than watching the movie in the first place. They anticipate the next installment as much as we do, and when the last end credit scene plays, they are happy and excited to share their favorite moments on the ride home.

Well, that’s the way most Marvel movies go, but last year’s Infinity War changed the rules a bit. Even before the snap, I heard the audible gasp from my middle daughter as her precious Gamora fell to her death, so I knew I was in trouble. When half of their favorite characters were gone with the snap of Thanos’s fingers, my children (and their parents) were left shell-shocked. The head, Thor, the head!

We left the movies telling our little superfans it would all be fine when Endgame arrived. Personally, I pointed out the various sequels we knew were in development and reminded my children it would be difficult to make Spider-man: Far from Home without Spider-man.

My husband talked to the kids about the biggest blockbuster of our childhood, The Empire Strikes Back, and explained how hard it was to wait the whopping three years for the galaxy to be put to right in Return of the Jedi.

It worked. The tears subsided and anticipation for the fourth installment stayed on a steady climb for a full year then the unthinkable happened. The cast and crew started using words like cathartic and emotionally wrecked to describe Endgame. Wait, what?

I started to worry. I made some serious promises last April, and I was just beginning to realize I probably wasn’t going to be able to make good on them. Once again, parent of the year award was not looking very likely for me.

My kids were going to see this movie. Not taking them wasn’t an option. This was the climax to over a decade of storytelling. All their friends would see this movie, and I could not, in good conscience, skip out on them. Were they going to be able to emotionally handle it?

I started prepping my kids. I warned them about certain actors saying their contracts were up. I explained the need for Marvel to kill someone beloved in order to remind the audience the stakes were high.

Last warning, spoilers ahead. If you haven’t seen Endgame, click the back button now. I mean it. Do not keep reading. Someone spoiled one of the major moments for me, and I was not a happy camper. I felt quite a few strong emotions in that instant. How dare anyone spoil the Endgame before the official release date?