Religion and the Five-Year-Old
Took Caelen to the doctor today. He had a bad reaction to peas, plus he'd been tugging at his ears. So, I wanted to be sure he didn't have an ear infection and what to do if he had another break out to the peas. Well, he doesn't have an ear infection, which is a good thing. And the advice about the peas? "Don't feed him peas for the next few months. I've never seen anyone allergic to peas." Well DUH! Don't feed him peas? Ya think?! What I was really after was how much damn Benadryl I should give him should it happen again. *sigh* I -could- test him for allergies, since we have the machine, but I can't draw his blood. Gotta love military docs. *double sigh*
Caelen now has two teeth. Plus, he is now pretty much sleeping in his own bed all night. It's hard to see, and yet I'm glad that I get my bed all to myself. It's hard that he's growing up. *sniffle*
While reading in a book of poems tonight with Kea (Shel Silverstein's Where the Sidewalk Ends, FYI), there was a poem about God vs. Mom. I.e. God made fingers- Ma says "use a fork" type deal. The last line says that either Mom is wrong or God is. OK, kinda funny; that's the point. Shel Silverstein has the funny poems. Kea looooooves the poems! :D Her favorite is Furniture Bash. Anyway, after that poem, she asked me "Who is God?" I was kind of at a loss for words. How to explain such a vague concept as God to a five-year-old? I didn't want to infuse the explanation with my own experiences and bitterness. I settled with the explanation that some people believe that he is a guy who made Everything. I know; I assigned God a gender. Kea is too young to really get the concept of a genderless being. I think I am OK with the explanation I gave her. I left it to where she could kind of get it without downplaying anyone else's beliefs. She IS at the stage where she parrots everything.
Well, it's late and I'm tired. Good night. :P
Caelen now has two teeth. Plus, he is now pretty much sleeping in his own bed all night. It's hard to see, and yet I'm glad that I get my bed all to myself. It's hard that he's growing up. *sniffle*
While reading in a book of poems tonight with Kea (Shel Silverstein's Where the Sidewalk Ends, FYI), there was a poem about God vs. Mom. I.e. God made fingers- Ma says "use a fork" type deal. The last line says that either Mom is wrong or God is. OK, kinda funny; that's the point. Shel Silverstein has the funny poems. Kea looooooves the poems! :D Her favorite is Furniture Bash. Anyway, after that poem, she asked me "Who is God?" I was kind of at a loss for words. How to explain such a vague concept as God to a five-year-old? I didn't want to infuse the explanation with my own experiences and bitterness. I settled with the explanation that some people believe that he is a guy who made Everything. I know; I assigned God a gender. Kea is too young to really get the concept of a genderless being. I think I am OK with the explanation I gave her. I left it to where she could kind of get it without downplaying anyone else's beliefs. She IS at the stage where she parrots everything.
Well, it's late and I'm tired. Good night. :P