Do you – and your children – know the story?

Today in our parenting group one mother brought up the fact that her two year old was going to learn about Diwali today at pre-school – but she knew nothing about the holiday herself! She was worried that she wouldn’t be able to provide any meaningful context for him when he came home.

I admitted that I knew almost nothing about Diwali myself – but we talked about how important it is for children to be able to enjoy and understand one another’s traditions.

And then another mother in the group came to the rescue and explained the holiday to us. She and her family celebrate Diwali and she told us about what they were going to do this year.

But she also told us that growing up in a Hindu family, she always heard the story of the holiday told from the male point of view and that she had decided a couple of years ago to write the story from the feminine point of view. She wanted her children – as well as others – to learn the story in a new way.

And then she told us the story: she explained that the holiday celebrates Sita, the daughter of earth and an incarnation of the Goddess Lakshmi and her return to freedom after being kidnapped by the evil Ravan. And she went on to say that this story is about Sita’s courage both quiet and loud, never to be mistaken for meekness.

At this time of year there are a LOT of holidays – and it may be confusing for young children, especially those in preschool and kindergarten.

Help them out!

You can begin to explain about religion to them if you have not already done so. And while a complicated topic, you can start by telling them that religion is something that helps people to know what to believe. You can go on to say that people who are one religion believe certain things while people that are a different religion believe different things. You can tell them about what you believe and which holidays you prefer to celebrate – but you can also help them to understand about all the different holidays they will see celebrated at school and in their communities.

And if you or your children (ages 7 and over) want to know more about the first Diwali, you can read about it through the eyes of Sita, and learn how she won the battle of good over evil in the book written by our group member!

Link:https://www.amazon.com/Seeking-Sita-Tejal-Toprani-Misra/dp/1665751010