When my eldest was ~7yo, he asked me something about why I don't believe (my wife tries to get to them...); I, knowing he likes dinosaurs very much, like all boys, asked him "did the dinosaurs come before or after jesus?"... He didn't know... had to ask mum... she dodged it and he went back to watching tv.
It's little things like this that go into their upbringing. Teach them to ask the questions no one else thinks of, at that age.
Be the role model that comes with being a parent. If you're a positive role model, not believing will seem like something natural and not negative to the kid.
Let the kid think, don't make up his mind.
Most of the times, I just ask them back "do you believe?" If they say yes (because mum is around), I then proceed with the kid version "Have you ever seen god?", "no", "then why do you think he exists?" (in portuguese, we don't have the "it", so I have to resort to "he"), "mum says he exists".... "how does she know about it?".... call mum... she can't answer... just mumbles something about believing... oops dad get no sex for a week!
It's little things like this that go into their upbringing. Teach them to ask the questions no one else thinks of, at that age.
Be the role model that comes with being a parent. If you're a positive role model, not believing will seem like something natural and not negative to the kid.
Let the kid think, don't make up his mind.
Most of the times, I just ask them back "do you believe?" If they say yes (because mum is around), I then proceed with the kid version "Have you ever seen god?", "no", "then why do you think he exists?" (in portuguese, we don't have the "it", so I have to resort to "he"), "mum says he exists".... "how does she know about it?".... call mum... she can't answer... just mumbles something about believing... oops dad get no sex for a week!
