"LisaBell" wrote in message
...
A few weeks ago, at a parents meeting at DD2's preschool, one of the
staff told a parent a cute anecdote about walking on an errand with
her son. The boy had said it was a long way, and the staff member had
told him not to worry, since the way back would be shorter. She added,
with great amusement, that now whenever they went on their weekly walk
to the woods, this boy would pipe up that it will be shorter on the
way back.


It's all a matter of perception. Haven't you ever anticipated something so
much, that waiting for it seemed interminable, and then when it was over, it
seemed to have passed by in an instant?
The way back might not actually be shorter, but it can certainly seem that
way, and that makes all the difference in ones experience of the trip. Young
children are much more attuned to this perception of time than adults are,
and that can be a good thing.

I was quite disturbed by this story. I would never deliberately feed
my child patently false scientific information; too me it is a matter
of integrity and dependability. Is this because I am out of touch
with my inner child ?

Young children don't need to know the cut and dried absolutely scientific
explanation behind everything. There is time enough for that as they grow
up. You could explain that people see things in different ways, even though
everything in the word is really the same, no two people experience it in
the same way.

I will admit I am far from a fantasy enthusiast (right now DH is in
the other room watching LOTR for the third time, by himself), nor am I
a religious believer, so I am repeatedly uneasy when DD1 asks whether
fairies exist, and what about angels... elves... spirits... heaven?
What am I supposed to tell her?

There are stories that people make up to explain things they don't
understand. Even if they aren't really real, they can be fun and
interesting, and sometimes it's fun to pretend that they are real. It is
kind of harsh to expect a young child to see the world as a place where
there is no room for make-believe. Some of the most wonderful tales in the
world have come out of this place of imagination, and they are something to
be greatly enjoyed in childhood, even if they are cast aside in the cynical
teenage and young adult years. I take great pleasure in telling my children
the stories my mother and grandmother told me.

I tried to dodge it when she asked if there was really a tooth fairy
(she hasn't yet lost a tooth, but is dying to), and asked her what she
thought. She said she thought there was no fairy and it was the
parents who put money in place of the tooth. Then she *insisted* on
knowing if she was right. Put on the spot, I admitted there was no
fairy, nor elves, and I'd never seen an angel. Am I spoiling things
for her?


Well, I've never seen a fairy ,or an elf , or an angel, but does that mean
they don't exist? We can never really know, can we? ;-)

*That* is the magic of childhood!



--Lisa bell
Mom to Gabriella (6.5) and Michaela (almost 5)