Real Man and the Monkeys are Catholic, and in the Catholic church, in second grade, children perform two sacred rites…First Holy Communion and Reconciliation, AKA First Confession.
I think seven is a bit young to be confessing…I mean, let the kids actually accumulate a couple of hearty sins before asking them to confess.
But, I digress.
Anyway, for whatever reason, my kids seem to share extremely guilty consciences. You may remember the story of Monkey Girl in tears, sure that she was going to wind up in Juvie?
Par for the course around here.
So, now it is Monkey in the Middle preparing for his Reconcilliation and he’s completely burdened with anxiety over it.
Now, to be frank, he has more to fess up to than Monkey Girl ever did, but I’ve got some pretty damn good babies over here. Yet, they were completely petrified at the thought of having to confess their “sins.”
I find it interesting that the more “moral” people are, the harder it seems to be for them to discuss their failings, yet, people whose moral compass usually points in its own direction seem to have no problem with talking about their deeds.
Do people become more comfortable with their bad behavior the more they engage in it, and therefore become less embarrassed by it?
If I started doing one “bad” thing a week, would I find myself more and more willing to talk about the ways I was “sinning” as it became a behavioral habit?
Just some questions that popped into my head as we talked about Reconciliation with Monkey in the Middle tonight.
And, as for me, I’ll be watching that ceremony with great interest.
And, believe me, it won’t be the kids who are trembling on the way to the confessional that I’m worrying about.
