Whenever we read Christmas books to the kids, the boys wonder aloud who baby Jesus is. I'm not sure how to respond to this because we're not trying to indoctrinate the kids with any religious beliefs. We try to keep Christmas on a strictly commercial level, but baby Jesus keeps crawling into the picture. I suppose this is all right, but I feel like Max and Luke are little Christians at heart. Max in particular. Here's a conversation we had:Me: "That's it, Max! I asked you not to throw the wash cloth, and you kept throwing it, so now I'm taking it away!"
Max: "I didn't throw the wash cloth. My body did!"
Me: "Well you need to learn to control your body better."
Max [angrily]: "I don't want you to take the wash cloth! Give it to me!"
Me: "I didn't take the wash cloth. My body did."
Max [without missing a beat]: "You need to control your body."
omnipotent baby jesus
ReplyDeleteThere's a very funny scene in Talladega Nights about "baby jesus". I think Max and Luke could learn something from it.
ReplyDeletejust a little infant, so cuddly, but still omnipotent
ReplyDeleteI've also wondered how I should react if it comes up between them and me.
ReplyDeleteWhy not treat the Jesus story similarly to the Santa story?
If/when they ask whether the stories are true, you can tell them that some people believe this and others believe that, and they get to decide for themselves what to believe.
-Uncle Andy
I totally get what you talking about regarding the spontaneous ejaculations, but other than that, I don't get it.
ReplyDeleteAndy, that's exactly what I've done, though Santa is more real than baby Jesus in our house. It's impossible to completely avoid the appearence of some sort of heavenly being around Christmas, be it baby Jesus or angels on high. These questions usually come up during storytime, so it's pretty easy to say "it's just a story." But I've also told them that some people believe angels are real, and that angels are kind of like ghosts. We've yet to discuss the concept of god. Last night, we were watching "The Little Drummer Boy," and baby Jesus heals a little lamb just by lying there in the manger in the general vicinity of the wounded lamb. Doesn't make a lot of sense anyway, so we just went with the "it's magic!" explanation, which they liked.
ReplyDeleteDoes that make Max a Christian - or just quicker than his dad? ;)
ReplyDelete- Gillian
I think the whole idea of Max believing that he is different from his body makes him ripe for becoming a Christian. Strong of the spirit, weak of the flesh...
ReplyDeleteNow that I think about it, that's not an exclusively Christian notion. Oh well.