After attending the most crazy vacation bible school performance for the sweetest little 4 year old- 2 hours long, song dance, and lots of intense excited about Christ or Lord and Savior people.
When we got back to the car Kayla asked me if she could go to the next vacation bible school. At first I said no merely out of personal selfishness and not wanting to sit through one of these for my sweet daughter. Then I really thought about it, I could suck it up, right? Then my daughters personality kicked through my head, what if she said this? Or that? So I told Kayla, " I am not sure if this is the right type of Camp for you baby girl."
"Why not, Mommy" -Kayla
"Well, Kayla, I think you are a little too inquisitive for a camp like this, and I am not sure what the reaction would be or if they would handle it well" -Me
"What do you mean? Inquisitive?"- Kayla
"Like, you have a lot a questions, and want to understand things" -Me
"Oh, so you mean, when I ask them "When did we turn from Monkey's into people?" - Kayla
-Silence in the car for about 10 seconds.
Followed by Eric and I laughing hysterically, "Yes Kayla, that is exactly the question they may have a hard time giving you the answer you are looking for."
Eric- "Kayla, would you please ask them that the next time we go?"
Friday, July 25, 2014
Full Vacation Bible school story and thoughts around inquisitive children
A little history first is always necessary to understand situations. To start, Eric and I are by no means against religion. It is definitely a helpful organization to many but is not my cup of tea. I was born and raised Catholic and only missed church when I was not physically able to be dragged there (which was rare). I remember growing up fearing God and always feeling guilt. I did not want to raise my children Catholic but going from Catholic to any other Church never felt right. When I joined the military I attempted to remain with the Church but the nagging feeling that my heart was not there and I was going out of obligation and not desire grew too strong. My final moment was marrying outside of the Church and having children. This brought up too many issues that I just didn't agree with. I believe myself to be spiritual but have considered myself to have left the Church especially when the Church approved my parents marriage annulment after 25 years of marriage. My husband went to Church when he was growing up, but not every week and when I met him he was already beyond where I stood between my whole childhood and this new life that didn't revolve around religion.
So back to the real reason for this whole post. To hopefully help remember this story of Kayla. Kayla is so bright, she has tested in the Genius levels (off the charts) and she is well beyond her years. She has always been and I wish I had kept a log of the things my two children have said over the years already. Kayla is inquisitive, she loves knowledge and wants to know everything. She is currently reading a dictionary to help understand things (which is awful because she is learning more than she needs to know.) Anyways, back to this story. We attended my best friends daughters Vacation bible school final night which was supposed to be around 10 mins long and ended up being about 2 hours of songs, dancing, pictures, and an absolutely off the walls women who had so much energy she either had the Lord's spirit in her, alcohol, or cocaine. The children were super cute, and the cookies at the end were absolutely awesome, some cheesecake bar was almost, I stress almost worth the two hours of intense cult religion. I have never seen anything like this, it was intriguing and scary at the same time. Again, this was apparently just more back story.
When we got back to the car Kayla asked me if she could go to the next vacation bible school. At first I said no merely out of personal selfishness and not wanting to sit through one of these for my sweet daughter. Then I really thought about it, I could suck it up, right? Then my daughters personality kicked through my head, what if she said this? Or that? So I told Kayla, " I am not sure if this is the right type of Camp for you baby girl."
"Why not, Mommy" -Kayla
"Well, Kayla, I think you are a little too inquisitive for a camp like this, and I am not sure what the reaction would be or if they would handle it well" -Me
"What do you mean? Inquisitive?"- Kayla
"Like, you have a lot a questions, and want to understand things" -Me
"Oh, so you mean, when I ask them "When did we turn from Monkey's into people?" - Kayla
-Silence in the car for about 10 seconds.
Followed by Eric and I laughing hysterically, "Yes Kayla, that is exactly the question they may have a hard time giving you the answer you are looking for."
Eric- "Kayla, would you please ask them that the next time we go?"
I nudge him knowing she would have no problem and I feared the potential reaction depending on which service or religious affiliation we were in the presence of at the time she would ask.
My daughter has been taught that she can go to Church any time that she would like, and that she can believe in God if she wants to, and she doesn't have to if she doesn't want to. That she is free to choose what she believes. We will not hold her back due to our beliefs. I want her to be a happy child and I want her to have all the knowledge and experience life. She has already had conversations with children at school where they brought up religion and God and told her this is how things are, this is what happened, she has told them that is a great possibility but there are other possibilities as well. She believes that evolution is a possibility as well as a God. She doesn't like when people are close minded and at 7 years old I am amazed that she is so willing to hear different sides of things and accept things for what they are, and understand unknowns. We had to teach her that some people believe things so strongly that they are opposed to believing in any other possibilities and that she should never argue with them, just tell them she understands they have their beliefs and respectfully excuse herself from those conversations as they will never hear her voice.
Children are amazing and their minds are incredible. I wish that the adult mind was so imaginative and open to learn and so full of wonder. I hate that we lose the wonder and it is filled with cynicism and doubt. To be seven again and inquisitive would be amazing. Just because I didn't want her to ask her questions that day, doesn't mean I stop her from being inquisitive, I just don't want her to ask her questions in an environment where I do not know some of the players and risk the answer putting out her fire and giving her a fear of asking those questions. Kids are fragile and once I have a person I know who is open enough to discuss religion with her but also have someone there who supports evolution I will bring the question back to light. As funny as it would have been to see the faces of the most Pro God religious people I have ever ran into, I did not want it to crush my daughters spirits or turn her into feeling bad for asking. I would hope it wouldn't have been handled as such but my instinct to protect my daughters sense of wonder for at least a little longer took over that day.
So back to the real reason for this whole post. To hopefully help remember this story of Kayla. Kayla is so bright, she has tested in the Genius levels (off the charts) and she is well beyond her years. She has always been and I wish I had kept a log of the things my two children have said over the years already. Kayla is inquisitive, she loves knowledge and wants to know everything. She is currently reading a dictionary to help understand things (which is awful because she is learning more than she needs to know.) Anyways, back to this story. We attended my best friends daughters Vacation bible school final night which was supposed to be around 10 mins long and ended up being about 2 hours of songs, dancing, pictures, and an absolutely off the walls women who had so much energy she either had the Lord's spirit in her, alcohol, or cocaine. The children were super cute, and the cookies at the end were absolutely awesome, some cheesecake bar was almost, I stress almost worth the two hours of intense cult religion. I have never seen anything like this, it was intriguing and scary at the same time. Again, this was apparently just more back story.
When we got back to the car Kayla asked me if she could go to the next vacation bible school. At first I said no merely out of personal selfishness and not wanting to sit through one of these for my sweet daughter. Then I really thought about it, I could suck it up, right? Then my daughters personality kicked through my head, what if she said this? Or that? So I told Kayla, " I am not sure if this is the right type of Camp for you baby girl."
"Why not, Mommy" -Kayla
"Well, Kayla, I think you are a little too inquisitive for a camp like this, and I am not sure what the reaction would be or if they would handle it well" -Me
"What do you mean? Inquisitive?"- Kayla
"Like, you have a lot a questions, and want to understand things" -Me
"Oh, so you mean, when I ask them "When did we turn from Monkey's into people?" - Kayla
-Silence in the car for about 10 seconds.
Followed by Eric and I laughing hysterically, "Yes Kayla, that is exactly the question they may have a hard time giving you the answer you are looking for."
Eric- "Kayla, would you please ask them that the next time we go?"
I nudge him knowing she would have no problem and I feared the potential reaction depending on which service or religious affiliation we were in the presence of at the time she would ask.
My daughter has been taught that she can go to Church any time that she would like, and that she can believe in God if she wants to, and she doesn't have to if she doesn't want to. That she is free to choose what she believes. We will not hold her back due to our beliefs. I want her to be a happy child and I want her to have all the knowledge and experience life. She has already had conversations with children at school where they brought up religion and God and told her this is how things are, this is what happened, she has told them that is a great possibility but there are other possibilities as well. She believes that evolution is a possibility as well as a God. She doesn't like when people are close minded and at 7 years old I am amazed that she is so willing to hear different sides of things and accept things for what they are, and understand unknowns. We had to teach her that some people believe things so strongly that they are opposed to believing in any other possibilities and that she should never argue with them, just tell them she understands they have their beliefs and respectfully excuse herself from those conversations as they will never hear her voice.
Children are amazing and their minds are incredible. I wish that the adult mind was so imaginative and open to learn and so full of wonder. I hate that we lose the wonder and it is filled with cynicism and doubt. To be seven again and inquisitive would be amazing. Just because I didn't want her to ask her questions that day, doesn't mean I stop her from being inquisitive, I just don't want her to ask her questions in an environment where I do not know some of the players and risk the answer putting out her fire and giving her a fear of asking those questions. Kids are fragile and once I have a person I know who is open enough to discuss religion with her but also have someone there who supports evolution I will bring the question back to light. As funny as it would have been to see the faces of the most Pro God religious people I have ever ran into, I did not want it to crush my daughters spirits or turn her into feeling bad for asking. I would hope it wouldn't have been handled as such but my instinct to protect my daughters sense of wonder for at least a little longer took over that day.
Wednesday, February 5, 2014
Better late than never take two
So there are many things that I have learned over the past few years but the one that really sticks out tonight is, I SUCK AT KEEPING A BLOG. Running in slow motion went well for a little while and then things got crazy with life and the kids. Family in the fast lane was created and was going to run parallel to running in slow motion. I was going to have my life of working out and then the family blog. As you can see it is about 3.5 going on 4 years since Family in the Fast lane has had a post. This proves two things. 1. Again I suck at blogging, 2. Our family is not only in the fast lane but I have forgot to exit and take time to write.
So where are we now? Tampa Florida, yep we have moved in the last four years. The kiddos, Kayla (7) and Max (5) are growing faster than I can possibly keep up with and will be taller than me I predict within the next 4-5 years at best. They are both in school now and rocking the Brazilian Jiu Jitsu world! We have made a second family at our gym. Trying to fit the kids training, soccer, gymnastics, baseball, and then our (Eric and I train Jiu Jitsu as well) class time as well has been life in the fast lane to say the very least.
We are wanting to move into a new development because the speed bumps here are slowing us down! Ha ha, seriously though they are killing our gas mileage. Max and Kayla are about to finish their first season of soccer, it went so well for Max that he is now doing a training program at USF, he absolutely loves soccer. Kayla is not the biggest fan of team sports, but has grown to enjoy the game as the season is coming to an end. She is in love with gymnastics right now and convincing her to hang on to Jiu Jitsu was a struggle but moving up with the older kids has been the best thing for her and she loves the sport again.
I have started and finished a MBA program and am trying to figure out what the next step is now. I have this new degree but nothing to do with it. This may have just been a waste of a new attempt to start and revive this blog, but with Adult ADD that is pretty much the story of my life. I have many unfinished projects and many ideas of things I want to do but never hit the ground and run with them. I still want to open my own business but have yet to discover what I want to do when I grow up.
Well its 1 am and tomorrow is going to come whether I stay awake or go to sleep. Life moves fast so try to keep up! Life in the fast lane is the only way I know how to live.
So where are we now? Tampa Florida, yep we have moved in the last four years. The kiddos, Kayla (7) and Max (5) are growing faster than I can possibly keep up with and will be taller than me I predict within the next 4-5 years at best. They are both in school now and rocking the Brazilian Jiu Jitsu world! We have made a second family at our gym. Trying to fit the kids training, soccer, gymnastics, baseball, and then our (Eric and I train Jiu Jitsu as well) class time as well has been life in the fast lane to say the very least.
We are wanting to move into a new development because the speed bumps here are slowing us down! Ha ha, seriously though they are killing our gas mileage. Max and Kayla are about to finish their first season of soccer, it went so well for Max that he is now doing a training program at USF, he absolutely loves soccer. Kayla is not the biggest fan of team sports, but has grown to enjoy the game as the season is coming to an end. She is in love with gymnastics right now and convincing her to hang on to Jiu Jitsu was a struggle but moving up with the older kids has been the best thing for her and she loves the sport again.
I have started and finished a MBA program and am trying to figure out what the next step is now. I have this new degree but nothing to do with it. This may have just been a waste of a new attempt to start and revive this blog, but with Adult ADD that is pretty much the story of my life. I have many unfinished projects and many ideas of things I want to do but never hit the ground and run with them. I still want to open my own business but have yet to discover what I want to do when I grow up.
Well its 1 am and tomorrow is going to come whether I stay awake or go to sleep. Life moves fast so try to keep up! Life in the fast lane is the only way I know how to live.
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