We once heard a story of a dad who baked some special brownies for his kids. Before giving them to them he said, "You should know that these are special; there is a little poop in these brownies. Just a little, you probably won't even taste it." Of course the kids were disgusted and wanted no part of the delicious-looking "treat". Dave and I often find ourselves commenting "there's just a little poop" when we feel the urge to compromise on a popular movie with a "little bit" of sex, or letting our kids read a book with "a little bit" of questionable content, or any other number of things it is so tempting to overlook. "It's just a little poop."
We have never participated in Halloween. Dave and I didn't grow up doing it and it was a natural decision for us that our family would pass on the autumnal extravaganza. This year brought a bit more difficulty for Titus than it had in the past, and I suspect the other kids will reach this point as they grow, as well. At first he was just disappointed in not bringing in the candy loot [he loves candy!]. But this year he was feeling some of the more serious repercussions of our choice. "I just feel a little left out." he commented to us during one of our first serious parent/child talks of this new parenting era we are entering. I could tell he was wrestling. What's the big deal?
We wanted to approach this carefully. We have many friends - devoted followers of Jesus - close to us who choose to partake in some parts of these festivities, and we in no way wanted to imply that they were "evil" or "celebrating the devil" as Dave and I had to overcome from our upbringing. We just wanted to help him understand that this was the choice we believed was best for our family. And that it was much more than Halloween. There will be lots of times in the coming years when we choose differently than other families. We're entering the stage of questionable content in movies, and TV, and video games and books. We wanted him to know that there will come a time when he can make his own decisions things, and as he grows he'll be able to navigate the good vs evil stuff a bit better. But until then, we are going to help him protect his mind, eyes, and heart.
Well, we had a good talk. Dave brilliantly pointed out that Jesus is about life and a lot of the things we see this time of year are about death - something the Prince of Darkness would love for us to view as no big deal. But what is the harm of dressing up as a LEGO guy and getting candy? The answer for us is nothing, but there is nothing wrong with the chocolate or milk or flour in "poop brownies" either.
PS
www.commonsensemedia.org is a site I have found (and bookmarked) that has parent, teacher and child reviews of books, movies, games, etc. I have found it helpful as we navigate this new stage in parenting.
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