Truth, Justice, and the American Way

Batman has started his vacation countdown.  What is amazing to me is that he remembers where we are going and what we have said we are going to do when we get there - in detail.  I have used broad strokes to describe the general gist of what we are going to do, but he has remembered those details down to the day.  Heck, I don't even remember what I told him.  Last night, we were walking from dinner to the grocery store and he pointed at Panera Bread and said, "That was where we ate breakfast last year, in California."  While it should not amaze me that his memory is this good - mine was, when I was a child - it still never ceases to amaze me what kind of crap I tell this kid and that he files it away for future use.

I tend to tell my kids the truth.  The Spouse is not really a fan of it.  Not that he wants me to lie to the kids, but he doesn't think I should be so straight up and down with what I tell them and how.  From the time they were born, I have never talked down to them.  I am not a fan of baby talk.  I explain complex political ideology, physics, death, finances (personal and government), why the Beatles and Elvis paved the way for modern rock music, and the inner workings of the U.S. government.  Sure, they look at me with blank faces and think momma has lost her marbles again, but every so often they will spit out awesome facts like, "Fat Dog is going to meet you at the all-you-can-eat Milk Bone bar in Heaven."  Yep, that's a fact, Jack, and if you want to find momma when you die, look for me there. 

There are some things I don't jump to tell them, before I think they're (I'm) ready.  I haven't started the facts of life, other than the basics - that they were in my belly and the dr helped me evict them.  They know their friend's mom has a baby in her belly.  Thankfully, they haven't asked how the baby got there.  But I'm prepared, as much as any parent can be, to tell them how you take the good, you take the bad, you take 'em both and there you have The Facts of Life.

Of course, some truths will be deliberately withheld for as long as I can get away with it.  I think every kid should believe in the magic of Christmas and the Tooth Fairy - I still do.