Raising Theo can be exhausting. For one thing, he will find every possible loophole to try to get his way. It's not just Chris and me who have noticed this—his preschool teacher commented that it exhausted her, too. "Just when I think I've got an ironclad rule for him, he finds some way around it!" she told me once. Yes, yes...I understand exactly. We're pretty sure he'd make a cracker-jack attorney someday.
Lately, Theo very much wants to use the words "Jesus" and "God," only not in a polite or respectful way. He has heard, on YouTube, people curse, "Jesus Christ!" when an elevator isn't working, or say things like "God, this is the worst elevator ever!"
We've tried to explain that it's not okay to use the words "Jesus" and "God" in that context, and his immediate response was, "But in Christmas songs they say 'Jesus' and 'God!'" So then we tried to explain that it's okay to talk about Jesus and God if you're talking about the entity/person, but not if you're complaining about something. But as you know, Jesus/God is a very nebulous entity...and Theo is a very concrete, literal thinker. Not only does he not grasp the concept of Jesus/God, even in simple terms, but he doesn't make the distinction of talking about the person versus using the name in vain. So, exhausted with trying to explain this, we finally just said, "Those are church words. It's okay to use them in church, but nowhere else." We don't actually go to church, so this shouldn't really be an issue. But of course, it is....
So today, in the car, Theo announced, "I need to go to church so I can use my church words."
"No, you don't," I replied. "Just don't use them."
"Well, if an elevator breaks, I can use them!"
"No. That's not okay."
"Why?" Theo demanded.
"Because," I replied. "Jesus would feel sad if he heard you using his name to complain about something." (Seriously, I was out of ideas for how to get him to understand the problem with using those words in the way he was.)
"But Jesus is a ghost!"
"Well, true. But he can still feel sad. And we don't want that."
"But I can use those words in church!" Theo declared.
"Yes, but not to complain about something. You can talk about Jesus the person, but it's not nice to say 'Jesus!' when you're upset about something."
"But it's okay in church!"
"Not if you're complaining."
"But Mommy, if I'm in church, and the elevator breaks, then I will say, 'Jesus!'"
At that point, I counted the minutes until bedtime and resolved to find a new way to try to explain this. Not that I'm having any success yet....
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