Loss Of Childhood Fables

In this article, I plan to touch on a subject that brings discord to both sides of the picture.

For years, I have watched adults tear away at the enchantment of childhood, a childhood I hold very dear. It was a childhood of mystery, excitement and learning to dream and believe in the impossible. We had faith that, if we were good, we would be rewarded.

I feel that this ability to believe in the impossible is a building block for children as they reach out with their minds, dreaming of a future for themselves. This future is, at that moment, a mystery filled with excitement and hopes of what may seem to some as the impossible.

Unperceived Wrong?

My childhood was filled with belief in the Easter Bunny and Santa Claus and, yes, even the excitement and anticipation of Trick or Treating on Halloween with my best friend, Terri.

Not once, during my childhood, did I think my parents lied to me about the Easter Bunny or Santa. Once I knew it was a fable, I lived in anticipation of sharing and reliving the enchantment with my own children and grandchildren. And my children have done the same.

Not once did I think of Satan or Demons when preparing to Trick or Treat. Instead, I was busy planning my costume from my own closet or that of my parents. My costumes were always that of Fairies, spinning tops, or Hobos. That, coupled with a pillowcase from my bed that I knew would be full of sweets by the end of the night to share with my father who waited anxiously for our return.

Not once did I perceive any of this as wrong until I was an adult and heard that they were wrong from other adults. "How sad," I thought, at the time.

The memories I made live on with me every season.

My Family

However, because of the adults around me, I also knew the importance of Christ's birth and his death on the cross, never once forgetting what had taken place on that night in Bethlehem or on the hill of Golgotha. I knew these things because my parents and grandparents were my examples and it was the way they lived their lives that taught me the difference between the fables of childhood and the realities of the seasons, as an adult.

Today, I find my little granddaughter is being told by other kindergarten children that there is no Santa Claus. This is the right of other parents who do not want their children to be involved in the enchantment of Santa Claus. However, they are ignoring the rights of those parents who still believe in that innocence of childhood.

Of Wonder And Imagination

Children don't see the world as bad until an adult teaches them of the evils of the world they live in. They see only the wonder and beauty of all that is around them.

I feel adults of today are robbing children of their innocence long before they are destined to lose it...long before my sister and I had to lose ours.

Yes, Halloween came about from an evil time. But that time was created by people just like you and I. Why teach our children of such things when they are babies? Why rob them of memories of joy and make believe, leaving them only with memories of demons and Satan when they think of Halloween?

Why rob them of the Easter Bunny and Santa Claus while the world is teaching them of shopping and spending money at Christmas for things they don't need or no one really wants? It never occurred to me to think of shopping at Christmas. It wasn't necessary...Santa was bringing it for me.

Seek A Deeper Meaning

Easter was filled with memories of eggs and candy and baskets and bunnies and new dresses. But most of all, filled with memories of wearing those dresses as we walked up the steps of our church as a family.

The problem here is not the Easter Bunny. The problem is not Santa Claus. The problem is not Trick or Treating on Halloween. The problem is the world we raise our children in, the inability to accept each other, the lack of unity, the lack of family, and most of all, the lack of worship.

If we are the proper example, as my parents were, our children can still have their innocent enchantment of childhood and they won't be sidetracked from God because they will follow their parents to His feet every time.

When a child is raised by Christian parents to love the Lord, though they may stray, they will surely return to Him and the training they received as children.

"Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it." Proverbs 22:6

Recovery

Think about it. Were you really hurt by that enchantment? Are you robbing your child of the ability to dream and believe in the impossible, as we learned to do so many years ago?

When did you turn away from your childhood memories and adopt your lack of belief in enchantment? Rather than robbing our children of their innocence, we should try to recover some of our own.

by Eugenia S. Hunt

Christmas is seen in tiny faces

Of children passing by.

Each one carrying dreams,

Hoping, Santa, they will spy.

I see Christmas in tired eyes

As seniors reminiscence,

And quietly tell their stories

Of long ago and childhood bliss.

Can you catch a glimpse of Christmas?

Can you feel it in the air?

Does it reach out to tickle senses,

Or touch your heart, with need to share?

This year, I feel Christmas

Much stronger than recent years.

I find it hiding 'neath the smiles

Of people filled with fears.

Our need, this year, to believe

In a world turned toward despair.

The need to, once again,

Watch Santa, quietly, from the stair.

To dream again of make believe,

Of Santa and his sleigh.

For just a little while

To see their worries fly away.

Today, as Christmas approaches

And we search for Christmas cheer.

Reach toward the Christ child,

Releasing, to Him, your fear.

For Christmas is much, much more

Than our childhood dreams come true.

Our joy is found beneath the Star,

With Christ's love surrounding you.

They Are Not The Same

We must first remember how to believe in God with the innocence of a child, the way a child believes in Santa or the Easter Bunny...with all their heart and soul.

Do you believe with all your heart and soul? Or have you lost the enchantment of Christ's birth among the battle over traditions?

Separate God from tradition and learn to see the world through your child's eyes again.

And, then, you may also see His face smiling back at you on Christmas morning.

I was reminded recently by an old friend and long time pastor's wife:

"The bunny and eggs are borrowed pagan symbols that represent a new beginning and new life in Christ."

Seems to me parents today need to educate themselves and rethink their motives.

Have you ever wondered how to handle the "is Santa real" question? You will love this beautiful letter that explains it perfectly!

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

My Bio

Born in the small town of Pendleton, South Carolina, in 1950, I was the oldest of two, five years my sister's senior. It was a wonderful place to grow up where the entire town raised its children. I was always surrounded by people who loved and looked out for me. I graduated from High School with the same people who were in my kindergarten class. At 59, my childhood friends are still my friends. I feel so fortunate to have known such a childhood.

After college, I worked at Clemson University until May 1972. At that time, I married and lived in Glyfada, 22 miles from Athens, Greece for two years...via USAF. We then moved to North Dakota for another two years before returning to South Carolina.

We divorced after 16 years and two children. I married my best friend two years later and moved to Florida in 1988 and together we have raised my husband's son and daughter and my son and daughter...one federal officer, one "stay at home" mother and wife, one sixth grade school teacher, and the other, after working for Florida Power and Light since age 19, is now with AT&T. In 1996, I adopted my stepdaughter. We are blessed with four grandsons and one granddaughter.

In 1999, we became foster parents with the Children's Home Society and had a number of children under our roof in the next 5 years. In 2001, we adopted a 13 year old girl, whom we first met at the age of 11, and is now 22. I also have spent more time in a courtroom than I care to think about, fighting for the rights of the children in our care. In 2004, I turned in my license so that I could be a full time Mom to our special needs daughter and keep our infant granddaughter five days a week while her mother was teaching.

Bill, my husband, is a retired USAF Air Traffic Controller. He is now working out of the country, on Ascension Island, with Computer Science Raytheon, as their chief controller, contracted out of Patrick AFB, Florida. This enables him to continue to do the job he loves, air traffic, and aid the military. He flies in and out on furlough and I handle things here at home. I jokingly call myself a Single Married Woman.

Actually, I am a retired Accountant/Credit Manager, now a housewife, where I enjoy writing, singing, piano, and sewing. I have had numerous poems and short stories published and have sung in churches and for church organizations for years, as well as weddings, a couple of variety shows, and even at my daughter's, and later my son's, weddings, one of the hardest things I have EVER done. We are members of Riverside Baptist church where I am a soloist and a member of the Women's Bible Study Group.

And, last but not least, we have two singing dogs. Joey, who is a two and a half year old German Shepherd who thinks himself a lap dog and Whisper, our nine pound, twelve and a half year old poodle, who thinks himself a Doberman.

I have been Mom To The Zoo since the morning after our wedding. My friend, Lee, who was staying with our four children and two dogs answered the phone from a sound sleep, "Hunt Zoo, Zookeeper Speaking."

My life has involved many changes and avenues that I would never have dreamed of and has given me challenges that I never thought I was equal to. But, I have found that God has a plan and, if you follow His lead, you can handle anything he puts in your hands. However, you have to first learn to listen to Him. No matter what we want from life, it must come in His time. He has given my husband and me more than we could have began to imagine back in high school and we have found that what we thought was so important for our futures back then was nothing to what we have done so far. I have learned from our foster children, to look forward to the future and the next challenge with enthusiasm and excitement. If they can trust and love us after what the world has dealt them, we can surely tackle whatever lies ahead with ease. Life is a series of learning experiences and I continue to find life to be both a challenge and a joy which grows with each passing year. I learn more and more about myself with each passing day!

Eugenia