Damn Easter Bunny
Ugh, now that my kids are getting older and interacting with more kids their own age...going to school, etc. Easter, Christmas, and losing baby teeth has become a huge pain in the ass. I WILL NOT encourage my children to lie...I WILL NOT tell my children that the fact that the Easter bunny is just a story is "our little secret"... and I don't care who doesn't like it. I mean, I respect every parent's right to tell their children what they want and have their children believe in the "magic" of Santa Clause and the tooth fairy. But what about my children's right to be taught that the truth and that telling the truth is NOT a bad thing. I know it's a touchy situation...I don't want my children to ruin other kids' good time. But at the same time, I feel that what other adults are telling my children about these things could be dangerous to their thought process or even their safety security.
For example:
At Xmas time, I warned Skylar's teacher that if Santawere brought up, he'd probably say that Santa's not real. I figured she could make the decision whether or not to take that risk. She read a book about Santa and prefaced it with telling the kids that Santa is a belief that some peopl have and others don't. Fine, at first that seemed like a good way to handle the situation.
But, when I got to thinking about it, I didn't like it at all. Basically, we are raising our kids without a specific religion, exposing them to many religions and letting them know that these are beliefs that some people have...others believe other things. So, the way the teacher explained things, my son is going to think that believing in Santa is the same thing as believing in a religion. But that's not the case. Santa, the Easter bunny and the tooth fairy are all things that ONLY children believe that is obviously untrue once you hit adulthood. Relgion is something that can neither be proved or disproved and is a true belief system.
Another example:
We sent the kids to the sitter on Saturday to get a break. The sitter has a 6 year old girl and a 4 year old boy. Lexie and Helana (the 6 yo) got to talking about Easter and Helana must have mentioned the Easter bunny and Lexie said he's not real. Nina (the sitter) said "Yes he is" and then took Lexie aside for a little talk, telling her that she knew the "big people secret" and that she shouldn't let other people who don't know the secret yet in on it. That seemed ok at first, too.
But, now that I think about it...do I want my kids to think that there are some big important secrets that you shouldn't tell to those who aren't in on it? IMO, that's a serious safety issue when my children are so young. That's one of the ways child molesters convince kids not to tell anyone else about what's going on.
I don't know, I'm just frustrated that me and my kids are somehow supposedly responsible to keep this lie..or fairy tale...going for other kids...at the possible risk to my children's personal security or eventual religious beliefs. This is not an over reaction on my part because it directly inerferes with my very well thought out parenting philosophy.
For example:
At Xmas time, I warned Skylar's teacher that if Santawere brought up, he'd probably say that Santa's not real. I figured she could make the decision whether or not to take that risk. She read a book about Santa and prefaced it with telling the kids that Santa is a belief that some peopl have and others don't. Fine, at first that seemed like a good way to handle the situation.
But, when I got to thinking about it, I didn't like it at all. Basically, we are raising our kids without a specific religion, exposing them to many religions and letting them know that these are beliefs that some people have...others believe other things. So, the way the teacher explained things, my son is going to think that believing in Santa is the same thing as believing in a religion. But that's not the case. Santa, the Easter bunny and the tooth fairy are all things that ONLY children believe that is obviously untrue once you hit adulthood. Relgion is something that can neither be proved or disproved and is a true belief system.
Another example:
We sent the kids to the sitter on Saturday to get a break. The sitter has a 6 year old girl and a 4 year old boy. Lexie and Helana (the 6 yo) got to talking about Easter and Helana must have mentioned the Easter bunny and Lexie said he's not real. Nina (the sitter) said "Yes he is" and then took Lexie aside for a little talk, telling her that she knew the "big people secret" and that she shouldn't let other people who don't know the secret yet in on it. That seemed ok at first, too.
But, now that I think about it...do I want my kids to think that there are some big important secrets that you shouldn't tell to those who aren't in on it? IMO, that's a serious safety issue when my children are so young. That's one of the ways child molesters convince kids not to tell anyone else about what's going on.
I don't know, I'm just frustrated that me and my kids are somehow supposedly responsible to keep this lie..or fairy tale...going for other kids...at the possible risk to my children's personal security or eventual religious beliefs. This is not an over reaction on my part because it directly inerferes with my very well thought out parenting philosophy.