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On Tuesday a box arrived from Grandma. The kids, of course, were very excited. I, however, was in the middle of something, so I glanced over the contents and distributed them accordingly: a book of pictures from the old (and far superior to the more recent) traveling King Tut exhibit, a Halloween t-shirt for each boy (and a "Pastor John" t-shirt for hubby), a dot-to-dot for Ringo, a superhero coloring book for George, and what I thought was a robot-type activity book for Paul. The boys scattered with their goodies, and I hardly gave it another thought. Then yesterday, the boys were sitting together making their own Pokemon-esque trading cards. As I listened to what they were saying, I realized that they were making them, not from their imaginations, but from the not-actually-a-robot-activity-book. The names I started hearing were a little disturbing, like "the Death Lion of Chaos". "Uh, boys, I need to see that book." Well, it turns out that it is a book explaining this particular trading card game that seems to be linked to a tv show that I'd never let them watch. It looked like an activity book because there were some activities designed to teach them how to play the card game. Hubby came home in the middle of my investigation, and he agreed that this just wasn't going to fly for 3 very good reasons. 1. It contained very naturalistic spirituality. 2. Bad guys were very bad and were portrayed to be VERY cool while the good guys were whimps. 3. It was all about the battle. There was no greater good being served, no real strategy or imagination used, etc. It was just kill the other guy so you can get his cards. So, we broke the news to the boys. Although we gave them credit for making their own cards instead of begging us to buy the real ones, the cards and the books were going to have to go because they would not help them become the men God wants them to be and would probably hamper them instead. Their faces crumpled, and there was a bit of sniffling. They didn't argue though. I think they were mourning their lost efforts more than the book itself. All was not lost though (and this is the cool part). I suggested that maybe they could come up with their own card game that honored God. Well they jumped all over that idea and immediately started working on a forest world where the animals work together to repel bad guys and help eachother. The first structure they decided on was a church, and the first character was the pastor. They later decided that each character card would have a favorite verse on it, and one of the hills in the forest is going to be called Mt. Holy. Who knows if they'll finish it before they lose interest? Who cares? This is a great opportunity for them to work together and use their imaginations for God's glory. Hallelujah! For the record: I don't think Grandma was trying to corrupt my kids. It's tough to find activity books for 9 year olds, and she doesn't share our convictions or beliefs. Not only would she probably not have anticipated our objections, but she may not have even noticed what the book really was anyway (as I didn't at first). Hubby's gonna have to be the one to break it to her though. |
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Posted by Anonymous
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Posted by 
