I have a six-year-old daughter named Cate. She's beautiful. She brings me joy unspeakable and pretty much owns me. She's going to be an artist like her mother, and also a musician, which I like to think I've had something to do with. She's always dancing and singing and creating something. Her mind is imaginative and open to ideas.
Cate believes in Jesus without question. She knows the stories, she knows what Easter and Christmas are about, and she knows she is a Christian.
She also, without any doubt, believes in the Easter Bunny, Santa Claus and the Tooth Fairy. While she can distinguish each of them by their appearances and roles, I remember a few Christmases ago when she would see an image of Jesus and point at it with bright, expectant eyes and say “Santa!”
This is all coming back to me now because Cate is losing her baby teeth. It is a fun time around the house as she believes that if she puts a tooth under her pillow, the Tooth Fairy will appear in the night, take the tooth and leave money behind.
A few nights ago, my wife, Erinn, thought this belief might have ended. As she was putting Cate to bed, Cate very seriously looked into her mother's eyes and said: “Mommy, you have to be completely honest with me when you answer this question. Is the Tooth Fairy actually real?” My wife, startled by the unexpected question, answered truthfully and said that there wasn't a tooth fairy. Erinn was somewhat relieved that this was the end of an era. But then Cate looked at her very intensely and said, “I thought I asked you to be completely honest with me. Why are you lying?” Cate simply couldn't accept that the tooth fairy wasn't real and still believes in her.
We're now in the period of Lent and Easter is coming. At our house we're expecting to remember the death, resurrection and ascension of Christ, and also the Easter Bunny.
I guess I'm struggling a bit with all of this. I know some Christians adamantly denounce any promotion in the belief of these traditional characters amongst their kids. They tell their kids as early as possible that these creatures are all lies and do not exist. While I respect that stand, I usually don't like their judgmental attitude towards parents who might choose to do otherwise.
There are other Christian parents who have no concerns about this whatsoever. Any thought about whether or not this is appropriate quite simply never occurs to them. They see it as part of the child's life and that's that.
Then there are some Christian parents like us who struggle with this. Should we have put a stop to these beliefs before they even started? Is this harmful or helpful to a child's development and life? Should we be concerned about this at all? Will Cate, once she discovers that the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy and Santa are fictional characters, make the same decision about Jesus like so many other people have done? Will she question our integrity once she finally realizes that we have let her believe a lie for her whole life? Are we ensuring that her faith in Jesus is grounded in reality? Can that even be done when you are six years old?
Maybe I'm stressing over nothing. I know that I believed in all of these things as a kid. As an adult, I still believe in Jesus with my whole being but have let go of other things. Maybe there's nothing to worry about. What do you think?
Dion Oxford, along with his wife, Erinn, and daughter, Cate, live in Toronto and are committed to journeying alongside people in the margins of society. Dion and Erinn have spent a combined 30 years working amongst folks who are living on the streets of Toronto. Dion is the director of Gateway, a Salvation Army shelter for men experiencing homelessness. He and his wife see the solution to homelessness as the church taking seriously the two great commandments of loving God and loving our neighbours. He likes to read, write, fly kites, cycle long distances, watch TV, play in his band and hang out with his friends.
Cate believes in Jesus without question. She knows the stories, she knows what Easter and Christmas are about, and she knows she is a Christian.
She also, without any doubt, believes in the Easter Bunny, Santa Claus and the Tooth Fairy. While she can distinguish each of them by their appearances and roles, I remember a few Christmases ago when she would see an image of Jesus and point at it with bright, expectant eyes and say “Santa!”
This is all coming back to me now because Cate is losing her baby teeth. It is a fun time around the house as she believes that if she puts a tooth under her pillow, the Tooth Fairy will appear in the night, take the tooth and leave money behind.
A few nights ago, my wife, Erinn, thought this belief might have ended. As she was putting Cate to bed, Cate very seriously looked into her mother's eyes and said: “Mommy, you have to be completely honest with me when you answer this question. Is the Tooth Fairy actually real?” My wife, startled by the unexpected question, answered truthfully and said that there wasn't a tooth fairy. Erinn was somewhat relieved that this was the end of an era. But then Cate looked at her very intensely and said, “I thought I asked you to be completely honest with me. Why are you lying?” Cate simply couldn't accept that the tooth fairy wasn't real and still believes in her.
We're now in the period of Lent and Easter is coming. At our house we're expecting to remember the death, resurrection and ascension of Christ, and also the Easter Bunny.
I guess I'm struggling a bit with all of this. I know some Christians adamantly denounce any promotion in the belief of these traditional characters amongst their kids. They tell their kids as early as possible that these creatures are all lies and do not exist. While I respect that stand, I usually don't like their judgmental attitude towards parents who might choose to do otherwise.
There are other Christian parents who have no concerns about this whatsoever. Any thought about whether or not this is appropriate quite simply never occurs to them. They see it as part of the child's life and that's that.
Then there are some Christian parents like us who struggle with this. Should we have put a stop to these beliefs before they even started? Is this harmful or helpful to a child's development and life? Should we be concerned about this at all? Will Cate, once she discovers that the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy and Santa are fictional characters, make the same decision about Jesus like so many other people have done? Will she question our integrity once she finally realizes that we have let her believe a lie for her whole life? Are we ensuring that her faith in Jesus is grounded in reality? Can that even be done when you are six years old?
Maybe I'm stressing over nothing. I know that I believed in all of these things as a kid. As an adult, I still believe in Jesus with my whole being but have let go of other things. Maybe there's nothing to worry about. What do you think?
Dion Oxford, along with his wife, Erinn, and daughter, Cate, live in Toronto and are committed to journeying alongside people in the margins of society. Dion and Erinn have spent a combined 30 years working amongst folks who are living on the streets of Toronto. Dion is the director of Gateway, a Salvation Army shelter for men experiencing homelessness. He and his wife see the solution to homelessness as the church taking seriously the two great commandments of loving God and loving our neighbours. He likes to read, write, fly kites, cycle long distances, watch TV, play in his band and hang out with his friends.
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