Explanations to a 5 year old

[Azathoth]

We had to explain why there was christmas today. My lovely lady vetoed my suggestion of Newton's birthday so we ended up explaining Sol Invictus. He was quite happy with the concept of celebrating the days starting to get longer and summer coming back. We skipped the subsequent hijacking and trying to explain that some people think an invisible sky fairy used his ghostly form to impregnate a virgin thus becoming his own dad

[Animavore]

Do what my mother did. Explain any embarrassing questions with the back of your hand.

[klr]

We had to explain why there was christmas today. My lovely lady vetoed my suggestion of Newton's birthday so we ended up explaining Sol Invictus. He was quite happy with the concept of celebrating the days starting to get longer and summer coming back. We skipped the subsequent hijacking and trying to explain that some people think an invisible sky fairy used his ghostly form to impregnate a virgin thus becoming his own dad

And you thought "Terminator" was confusing.

[Azathoth]

Can you imagine the conversation in the Mary and Joseph household?
M- "I'm pregnant"
J-"But I haven't fucked you"
M-"God did it"
J-"Oh, thats quite alright then"

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Can you imagine the conversation in the Mary and Joseph household?
M- "I'm pregnant"
J-"But I haven't fucked you"
M-"God did it"
J-"Oh, thats quite alright then"

Best con job in history!

"Joe, still down here a minute . . . "

[klr]

Can you imagine the conversation in the Mary and Joseph household?
M- "I'm pregnant"
J-"But I haven't fucked you"
M-"God did it"
J-"Oh, thats quite alright then"

Best con job in history!

"Joe, still down here a minute . . . "

Joe seems to have been as thick as a plank ... quite appropriate that.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Can you imagine the conversation in the Mary and Joseph household?
M- "I'm pregnant"
J-"But I haven't fucked you"
M-"God did it"
J-"Oh, thats quite alright then"

Best con job in history!

"Joe, still down here a minute . . . "

Joe seems to have been as thick as a plank ... quite appropriate that.

I wonder who she blamed for JC's siblings?

[charlou]

ghat, that avatar ...

We had to explain why there was christmas today. My lovely lady vetoed my suggestion of Newton's birthday so we ended up explaining Sol Invictus. He was quite happy with the concept of celebrating the days starting to get longer and summer coming back. We skipped the subsequent hijacking and trying to explain that some people think an invisible sky fairy used his ghostly form to impregnate a virgin thus becoming his own dad

I think it's important that children know the reasons other people do things, too.

It's natural to want to protect ones children from the nonsense in the world, and I can understand that very well ... but there's a difference between making children aware from a historical and anthropological perspective that there are many beliefs and traditions around the world and among our own society, and indoctrinating children into those things; doing the former is both safe and desirable, I think. It's actually detrimental to a child's social development to keep them in ignorance of the many and varied cultural aspects of society. Imagine not knowing what all the references to religion mean, having been shielded from them, and so not being able to contribute to discussion and banter on the subject in any meaningful way - not 'getting it' when it comes up in books, movies and conversation ... There's also the possibility of perhaps becoming curious enough (good) about this religion thing to find out more about it and, due to ignorance, possibly being led down the wrong path by those with an agenda (bad). It's not going away just because the child has been shielded from it, and it's better being introduced to children as a reality of society from a free and rational thinking perspective from the outset, than as a dogma from dodgy sources later on ...

Can I recommend taking a broader approach to introducing rational thinking to your child, ghat? Find books that show all sorts of cultural traditions, religions, folk stories, festivals, etc and mix in books about the different ways people live around the world, and talk about the things that are different and find all the things that are the same (people everywhere like to incorporate music, food, costumes, into their traditions ... people everywhere dictate patterns of behaviour to one another so that their society can get along ... people everywhere learn from their own families and societies how to behave and what to believe ... etc). Later, for older children and adults alike, Jacob Bronowski's The Ascent of Man series on DVD is excellent ...

[Azathoth]

You raise a valid point Charl. We have no plans to shield him, it would be impossible anyway. I'm just of the mind that at 5 kids are too young to understand the concept of religion and it can be discussed later. I did a similar thing with my daughter who is now 9 and understands that some people believes in gods the same way that some people believe in fairies and others in UFOs.

[charlou]

You raise a valid point Charl. We have no plans to shield him, it would be impossible anyway. I'm just of the mind that at 5 kids are too young to understand the concept of religion and it can be discussed later. I did a similar thing with my daughter who is now 9 and understands that some people believes in gods the same way that some people believe in fairies and others in UFOs.

Ahkay ... good stuff.

[Xamonas Chegwé]

You raise a valid point Charl. We have no plans to shield him, it would be impossible anyway. I'm just of the mind that at 5 kids are too young to understand the concept of religion and it can be discussed later. I did a similar thing with my daughter who is now 9 and understands that some people believes in gods the same way that some people believe in fairies and others in UFOs.

Just bear in mind that the religious do NOT consider 5, or any age, too young to push their dogma on impressionable minds. It is better to get your explanations of woo in first before some xtian nursery school teacher jumps the gun on you - or even the other kids at school, who will have got all the bullshit from their parents. Answer a child's questions honestly and at a level that they can understand (says the confirmed bachelor! )

[FBM]

Can you imagine the conversation in the Mary and Joseph household?
M- "I'm pregnant"
J-"But I haven't fucked you"
M-"God did it"
J-"Oh, thats quite alright then"

Best con job in history!

"Joe, still down here a minute . . . "

Joe seems to have been as thick as a plank ... quite appropriate that.

I had surmised that Joe was banging her before their wedding and they made up the 'goddidit' story to keep from getting stoned to death. Whichever, it still means that their whole society was thick as a plank...

[floppit]

We have family who are religious which (I think) would make it ridiculous to avoid the subject. It is a fact that many people are celebrating what they perceive to be the birth of an incarnate god, and like many facts it will begin as something she does not understand but that's just part of being a kid and growing up.

I will also tell her why I love christmas, and that has everything to do with lighter nights and seasons changing, end of the wet and dark, start of ice and snow, buds begin to appear, snowdrops pop up their heads. The hardest and coldest months are softened by clear signals that spring is on it's way.

She will begin her learning this year - we will watch buds fill out day by day, she'll feel ice and hopefully, if global warming hasn't knobbled it already, step into snow! By 5 I'm hoping she is beginning to learn the difference between what is seen, touched, observed, and the fun she can have with her own imagination, both of which are good but knowing the difference is important.

[Rum]

I've been thinking about this issue and remembering how much I loved Christmas as a child. I have so many memories and images of the sights and smells of it, from Christmas tree lights shining through angel's hair, to the magic of seeing pictures of snow (as a kid in Hong Kong snow felt almost as mythical as Father Christmas). And though the birth of Jesus was part of the whole thing, as my family was non-practising, that element was almost secondary. What is true is that until the age of eight or nine Christmas remained magical.

And so, rather than be a grumpy old fart about it, which I tend to be, I have resolved to make the most of it and take a page out of Floppit's book!

[charlou]

We have family who are religious which (I think) would make it ridiculous to avoid the subject. It is a fact that many people are celebrating what they perceive to be the birth of an incarnate god, and like many facts it will begin as something she does not understand but that's just part of being a kid and growing up.

I will also tell her why I love christmas, and that has everything to do with lighter nights and seasons changing, end of the wet and dark, start of ice and snow, buds begin to appear, snowdrops pop up their heads. The hardest and coldest months are softened by clear signals that spring is on it's way.

She will begin her learning this year - we will watch buds fill out day by day, she'll feel ice and hopefully, if global warming hasn't knobbled it already, step into snow! By 5 I'm hoping she is beginning to learn the difference between what is seen, touched, observed, and the fun she can have with her own imagination, both of which are good but knowing the difference is important.

Very true ... and children are capable of and cope well with it, too. Adults can tend to underestimate or misunderstand children in this regard.

These words from Carl Sagan's Cosmos couldn't be more fitting here ...

"The size and age of the Cosmos are beyond ordinary human understanding. Lost somewhere between immensity and eternity is our tiny planetary home. In a cosmic perspective, most human concerns seem insignificant, even petty. And yet our species is young and curious and brave and shows much promise. In the last few millennia we have made the most astonishing and unexpected discoveries about the Cosmos and our place within it, explorations that are exhilarating to consider. They remind us that humans have evolved to wonder, that understanding is a joy, that knowledge is prerequisite to survival. I believe our future depends on how well we know this Cosmos in which we float like a mote of dust in the morning sky.

Those explorations required skepticism and imagination both. Imagination will often carry us to worlds that never were. But without it, we go nowhere. Skepticism enables us to distinguish fancy from fact, to test our speculations. The Cosmos is rich beyond measure - in elegant facts, in exquisite interrelationships, in the subtle machinery of awe."