My thing is, I feel like I put in my time. I’m done. I have my beliefs I carry with me from my core and I’ll share them when my kids are old enough to ask. Til then there’s a ton of fun holidays to participate in and stories to tell. I guess I can just let them sort it out as no one can be sure they’ve got the -real- answer anyway. It’s personal.

My children will be taught that the universe is a big place, so big infact, that for every grain of sand on the beach… there’s a person with their own set of beliefs. And the common thread is that we’re all human, capable of loving and learning.

Daphne – congrats on your new baby boy. I just had my little guy 4 months ago I LOVE LOVE LOVE your site – read it every night after i get my 2 in the sack

Eileen (NY)

Conculsions are similar to what others have said. Want them to big good peeps, understand that they are not the center of the universe, and be accepting of a range of beliefs and ideas. I do think it is helpful to have some ‘community’ to support your values, the challenge is finding one that is in synch with you and then hauling your butt out of bed once in awhile to actually participate. So far, we feel most comfortable with the Unitarians. Of course, I can’t speak of this to most of my God fearing rule-abiding family. Ah well, its not about them.

Interesting post and thread.

But my point is that as we’re raising our kids in a particular religion, we still have to explain to them that other people are different and believe differently than we do and that that doesn’t make them stupid or bad people. I think that’s not unlike what, as a non-believer, you need to teacher your children about people who do follow a religion.

And being a homeschooling mom (yes, I savor your video), I am continually dressing wounds to my ego, surrounded by women who literally hold prayer meetings that include me and my family.

My sister-in-law says there’s no common ground with evangelicals, and I tend to agree. They’ve done a good job of convincing me to keep standing where I’m standing, though.

Oh well, one life to live.

Jinx

But, we know the day will come when we’ll have to address it. But how? You mention addressing the birth of Jesus stuff while avoiding the Easter-y stuff. And there’s the rub. How to present this information in a context of “stories” without creating a judgmental vibe in the kid about the people who really believe them (i.e. how to avoid “Well, my daddy says those are just like fairy tales that are used to control people / provide false hope / etc.”). I wouldn’t use that terminology, but kids tend to put the pieces together pretty quickly on what we’re trying to say, don’t they?!

I think it’s worth making a visit or two to a church so she gets what the cultural relevance is, but it’s a delicate line.