11 Comments

  1. I personally never saw the point in teaching my kids to believe in anything that I don’t believe in myself. I’m aware that this makes me part of a very small minority, but I’ve grown used to being a misfit.

  2. Loved this post, Carolyn! I am new to your blog (found through Haley over @ Carrots) and have really enjoyed poking around.

    In particular, this post was very helpful for me. My sister-in-law and her husband don’t do fairy tales or santa or any “make believe” stories with their children because they feel it’s the same as lying to them. I understand it’s their parenting choice, but I’ve been so worried about what that will mean for my kiddos when they’re a bit older — will their older cousins squash out their love of fairy tales and equate them to big lies? I’m sure it’s a conversation I’ll need to have with my in-laws someday, and I just love the way you’ve put it. So I guess this is my long way of saying thank you!

  3. “Santa was a Lie. The Tooth Fairy was a lie. So how on earth was I supposed to think that God isn’t just the same as Santa Claus? That we “have to be good because God is watching us”? Ffft.”

    This is PRECISELY why I was “a harsh B” with my girls also. Funny thing about that … now they’re grown and can do as they please, they all have a strong relationship with the Lord, pray, read their Bibles and attend church regularly.

    1. Addendum (now that I’ve read the whole thing … after pausing to comment urgently on that one bit that just SPRANG OUT LOUDLY!) … this is BEAUTIFUL!!!!

      Your tiara tale reminded me of the Easter we got our three girls fairy princess crowns to celebrate the FACT that God is the King and we are brothers and sisters to Jesus, His Son, which makes us all in actual FACT, real live princes and princesses! They were wonderful crowns … circlets of twisted wire covered with flowers and shiny stars and ribbon with tails of tulle and ribbon hanging down in the back. ::sniff:: Thanks for reminding me. :)

      Also, may I recommend stocking up on true angel stories in addition to true saint stories? I fed my kids a steady supply of saint, angel, fantasy, fairy, true life … all kinds of stories … for the reasons you say so eloquently. Plus, the Bible is full of wonderful stories and Jesus told parables often. Clearly, God LOVES stories!

      We would talk about the meanings and about which ones were true or based on something that really happened and which ones were made up but had a truth in them. It was an interesting challenge for them to sort out the difference between movies featuring a made up story starring live people and a true story told with animation.

      Another fun thing I LOVED to do was compare the book and movie versions and talk about how the medium affected how the story was told. When they were older, we looked at movie and books from different eras and talked about how the way the stories were told were influenced by and spoke to the culture of that time and place.

      My girls grew up with the Harry Potter books coming out … the agony! (I felt for Tolkien’s fans who had to wait for each publication!) They were adults when the movies began appearing. We had SUCH fun with them, but I got the extra fun of them being older and wise and thoughtful enough to have real insights to share that I hadn’t thought of myself. :)

      The summer before the first HP movie came out, my eldest was working in a restaurant near Tanglewood in western Massachusetts. A customer gave her his ticket to that night’s concert, because he wouldn’t be able to go. She only caught the second half after her shift, but she was so THRILLED by it, she called me at 1 am to gush!

      (There’s me thinking, “My KID is not just gushing about a concert of CLASSICAL music … but she called ME to gush at! Wow. It’s almost like I must’ve done something right, you know?!”)

      The topic of her gush was Hagrid’s Theme. She said, “I wasn’t planning to go to the Harry Potter movie, because I don’t want to spoil my own imagery from the book. But John Williams was at Tanglewood tonight and he debuted Hagrid’s Theme and it is SO BEAUTIFUL AND SO PERFECT, now I can’t WAIT to see the movie!!”

  4. My most developed sense as an adult is still my sense of wonder (my poor eyesight and bad hearing and motor skills leave a lot to be desired), and I absolutely love this post.

  5. Beautiful post! I’m a brand new reader and so glad I found you. I’ve been struggling with this ever since I took my almost 4 year old to see Cinderella. She asks me daily if she has a fairy godmother who will help her when she really needs help! It makes my heart hurt to say no, so I’ve redirected the discussion towards the idea of guardian angels. Anyway, thanks for posting and have a lovely day!

  6. Very nice post. And great reflections! We also don’t do Santa or the easter bunny in order to direct our attention to the reason for the season. But we all love fairy tales and read and watch them together! And as for your boys seeing you in a tiara…that is so precious :) Sons are heart breakers for sure. Mother son relationships are very special!

  7. Thank you so much for such an eloquent post! I have four little ones too…and you so beautifully formulated exactly what has been on my heart. My 5 year old lost his first tooth yesterday, btw! Daddy combed the aisles of the store late last night in order to produce the promised “Tooth Fairy” surprise for the morning. They learned all about T.F. from tv of course, but they also know it is really Mommy and Daddy that give them gifts. I love how you wrote about raising and forming our children in the Catholic faith…that is why I homeschool, it is so, so important to be able to guide and form them at every single moment. Thank you for a wonderful and inspiring message.

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