I beg to differ. That was the overall point of my overlong post near the top of the pile: I’ve never been able to bring myself to tell either of my kids that I will always be there for them. They know I’ll be there to support them for as long as I draw breath and possess sentience, and that I’ll be around for as long as I can devise. But they appear to have a surprisingly sophisticated grasp on the idea that “Damocles” is essentially everybody’s middle name.
Also, FWIW, we’ve never made a particular effort to instill a belief in Santa Claus and the Tooth Fairy et al into their heads. They’ve always known those are fantasy roles played by Grandpa, Grandma, and the occasional stout chap at the mall. When they were truly young they’d have been more credulous, but nobody was actively trying to fool them.
As a kid, I was afraid of all manner of monsters. I found the greatest level of success in getting over this fear by getting involved in the other side of the transaction: going behind the scenes to find out how monsters are made. Reading histories and mythologies, learning about makeup and mechanical FX, eventually running a successful Halloween haunt for eleven years. And my kids are embracing this approach as well. My daughter was (like her mother) deathly afraid of spiders, but the more she’s learned about spiders, the more comfortable she’s become around them. Our house is over a century old and full of creaks and dark corners, and the kids used to be afraid of the dark, and suspicious noises, and thunder, and all kinds of stuff. But after examining my collection of Halloween props and disguises, and experiencing firsthand the thrill of “becoming one with the darkness” (especially on Halloween), they’ve come to enjoy this side of fantasy. They clamor to help me paint and dress the undead dudes in my “Build Your Own Zombies” kit. And my formerly-spider-dreading daughter dressed up as a Spider Queen for Halloween last fall, the spookiest kindergartener on the block. They’re having fun distilled from fear in a way I didn’t manage until I was in high school. Ask 'em about any of those spooks, spectres, bloodsuckers, and changelings and they’ll offhandedly admit that they’re all make-believe (at least, as far as we know… heh heh heh), but still as cool as can be.
