As I mentioned in the post before this one my oldest daughter has become a bit of a handful. She has turned into a super inquisitive kid in the last few weeks and is asking all kinds of questions that very often I'm not prepared for. The biggest of these questions was, "Where did the very first person come from after the dinosaurs died?"
She asked me this about three weeks ago and I didn't answer her right away. I honestly didn't know what to tell her. I couldn't figure out how I was going to explain evolution in a 5 year-old friendly way that wouldn't make her think the monkeys in the zoo were going to lose their hair, start wearing clothes and become her new classmates. Kids her age really don't understand the passage of time and I just didn't know how I was going to explain to her a concept that takes millions and millions of years to occur.
While pondering my dilemma and side stepping her question a bunch of times it occurred to me that if my husband and I were religious questions like this would be easier. Now, I hope no one takes offence to what I'm going to say because it is not my intention to belittle religion or make light of its importance, but I have been wondering in what ways religion might make parenting easier. For example, in this case I could have explained to her that God created Adam, Eve and the Garden of Eden. Since most 5 year-olds are still magical thinkers, can imagine wonderous things, and really do have the ability to be true believers this bible story would answer her question. I know that my daughter would love the story of Eden. She would listen intently and likely the discussion would end as quickly as the question appeared.
While pondering the ways that religion might make parenting easier it also occurred to me that it might make parenting harder. For example, what if my beliefs conflicted with things my children were taught in school? I suppose it would then be my responsibility to carefully explain why I believed something different. I can't even begin to imagine some of the other challenges that might be presented, especially in these times when religion is linked to so much world conflict. With this, I come full circle to where I started. Parenting is hard. Answering our kids questions can be hard too. Doesn't matter the question or our beliefs, giving a satisfying answer can be a challenge in the best situation.
In the end all my worrying and side-stepping was irrelevant. I finally just laid it out there and told her that sometimes with lots of time going by animals slowly changed to become other animals. Then we talked about how monkeys did some things like us and how maybe they changed, and changed until there was the first person. She seemed satisfied and had a few more questions, but all went well. Until I took the fateful step. I said, "But not all people believe the same thing. Some people believe that God made people and everything else on Earth." Oh no! I could see it in her eyes, the wheels in her brain building momentum and...phew. The next question I anticipated didn't come, but I'm still waiting to be asked, "Who is God?" And, I have absolutely no idea how to answer that one! Maybe she will surprise me and ask me another tough one like, "What is a rainbow?", "How does the fridge work?" or "How are babies made?" (Funny thing is I wouldn't put it past her to ask exactly those questions and in exactly that order.)
Going to get out the dictionary and encylopedia now. I'll let you know how it goes...
No comments:
Post a Comment