Homeschool Campfire

Boy, have I caught some slack from letting my children (soon to be 12 and 13) go through their first haunted house.  Yes, parts of it scared them to death and they were down so far in the wagon that I literally thought they had become part of the wagon.  No, they did not like any of it and both vow never to go again.  But despite all my warnings, they really, really wanted to go and would not let up about it.  So, I came up with what I thought was a God-given idea.  I took them through their first haunted house.  While my kids hated it, I must admit that I personally have not laughed like that in a while.  Let me tell you how I turned this into an AWESOME teaching moment that neither child will soon forget!

1)  I asked both kids if they enjoyed the haunted hayride.  Of course, they shook their sad little faces and said no.  Then I asked if they were better for it after going through it.  Again, they said no.  Finally, I asked them if it changed them in anyway.  They said yes and told me that they were going to be afraid and needed to sleep with me when they got home and all kind of things.

2)  I explained to my children that this is what things of this world can be like, i.e. premarital sex, drugs, and alcohol.  They will look fun and wonderful from the outside, but after you have gone through them you will not be better for it and in some cases, you will be changed in a way that you do not like. Sometimes, they can even cause you great fear.  I totally got to explain to them that this is what the bible means to be in the world but not part of the world.

3) Plus, I got to put in the plug that your parents really do know what we are talking about and maybe next time when I tell them that they will not like it they will be a bit more likely to listen to me.

4)  My kids have already joked that when they are going to go out with their friends at age 16, that mom will say “Remember the Haunted House” and they will know exactly what I mean.  I pray that is true!

5)  I also got in a huge lesson on fear.  They know what it is like now and exactly how things of this world can make them feel.  The bible tells us to fear nothing but He who can send us to death.  My kids have a more complete understanding of this now.  They came through their experience and knew they were safe and protected.

6)  This would not have worked if I had waited till they were 16 and had the realization that the haunted house was really a big joke.  I am sure we will have plenty of teaching moments with this one as they get older.  I already have tucked away some of them to use for later.  When we discuss sex in more complete detail when they are older, I can say that having premarital sex and having to wait and see if you are pregnant is going to make your body fear like it did in the haunted house.  Also, going to a party where there is under-aged drinking and the party gets busted is also going to make you feel the fear you felt in the haunted house.  It is not worth it. The list goes on and on and on.

So, you may not take your kids to a haunted house.  I did and I used it to my advantage.  The things of this world can harm us and I wanted my children to really learn this!  It is not something either one of them are soon to forget!

This entry was posted by Monica Killen on Tuesday, October 28th, 2008 at 9:48 am and is filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.