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Eggs, Rabbits, Easter, and
Parental Credibility
What do eggs have to do with rabbits? What do
rabbits bave to do with Easter? And what do eggs,
rabbits and Easter have todo with parental credibility?
Those are
good questions.
In our day and
age the credibility
of practically
everything seems
in question, and
what many par–
ents fail to realize
is that their chil–
dren can question
their credibility.
This is particu–
larly true when
parents teach
children some–
thing as if it were
true when in fact
it isn't.
1/{ustration bY"Robert McGuinness
The eggs and
Easter bunny myth is just one example. Other common
myths which we often consider )larmless, cute, or fun
"for the children" - Santa Claus, the stork, the good
tooth fairy, even the bad boogie man - can help create
a credibjJity gap between parents and children. How
did you feel when to your utter shock as a little child
you discovered that Santa Claus didn' t exist?
Keep in mind that when you tell a very small child
that the moon is made out of green cheese he is likely to
believe it, at least until he Jater discovers the truth.
What's the moral? Don't teach children myths.
Teach them the truth in the first place. This includes
teaching children the truth when asked where babies
come from, a question parents often consider embarras–
singly d¡fficult to answer. Of course such instructions
must be in terms and in a way that children can under–
stand, depending on their age. Doing this eliminates
their having todo a lot of unlearning later.
It
is so much
easier to learn something right in the first place than to
haveto unlearn a wrong and 1earn whatis right later.
28
In case you are still wondering yourself what eggs
and rabbits bave to do with Easter, write for our free
booklet
The Plain Truth About Easter
and find out. You
may be surprised.
•
Energy Wise But Hazard Foolish
Sorne householders try to take the chill out of their
home and save on heating fue! by resorting to unfamil–
iar heating supplements or substitutes. rn sorne cases
the results have been tragic.
A family in Vermont recently brought a cast iron
stove into their home for supplementary heating and
placed it directly on a wood fioor. Over-heating ignited
the ftooring and extensively damaged theír house.
Luckily, they escaped alive.
Another family
in
Quebec was not so fortunate.
For heat, the Quebec family burned charcoal in a large,
outdoor barbecue tbey had set up in their living room.
The result - the entire family of six, including four
children, was asphyxiated by deadly carbon monoxide
emissions from the burning charcoal.
ln yet another case, this time in reaction to the
short supply of gasoline, a family stored a 55-gallon
steel drum of gasoline in their garage to have an extra
supply of gasoline on hand as a hedge against rationing
and running out. Escaping gasoline fumes were acci–
dentally ignited by a cigarette. The resulting explosion
and tire destroyed their garage as well as their car and
caused majar damage to their attached borne.
Follow tnis advice given by tire protection experts:
Take care when using portable heaters. Be sure to
follow local regulations pertaining to them. If the origi–
nal manufacturer's instructions are missing, get profes–
sional guidance from your local tire department or
building inspector's office concerning their use. Keep
portable heaters well away from materials which burn,
such as draperies, upholstered furniture, towels, cloth–
ing and bedding.
Most important, use common sense and don't vio–
late official regulations while trying to ward off winter's
chills. If necessary, wear sweaters and coats rather than
taking the hazardous course of using heating devices or
breaking safety regulations.
- Patrick
A.
Parne/1
PLAIN TRUTH March 1974