addChild issue

1

I’m having an issues with changing the properties of a movielip created via [FONT=Courier New]addChild[/FONT]. The movieClip ‘clip’ is already on the stage (created statically).

var dropDown:MovieClip = new MovieClip();
    dropDown.graphics.beginFill(0x003366);
    dropDown.graphics.drawRect(0, 0, 100, 100);
    dropDown.name = "dropDown";
    clip.addChild(dropDown);
    clip.dropDown.alpha = 0.2;

Why can’t a change the alpha of the ‘dropDown’ clip within my ‘clip’ clip??