Why are children shielded from life’s complexities and challenges and instead presented with  Disney World, Santa Claus, and Easter bunnies?

Discovering that Santa Claus was fictional felt like a deep betrayal. It was one of the first times we had to grapple with the idea that not everything we were told was true. Alongside this, we had to come to terms with the fact that the world could be a verry hostile place.

In my case, this realization came from seeing posters for wanted terrorists at the post office in our neighborhood and watching a true crime TV show about unsolved murders. These experiences made it clear that the world had darker realities we needed to understand.

A roadmap preparing children for life’s messiness might look like this.

They would learn about:

• taking care of their mind (spiritual) and body (physical/worldly)
• Understanding emotions (emotional/psychological) and thoughts (mental)
• knowing who they truly are
• embracing imperfections as being human
• self-caring
• growing through challenges
• building connections by sharing
• accepting life’s uncertainties
• handling chaos
• building resilience and adaptability
• finding meaning and purpose.

Dealing with life’s messiness often comes down to learning to trust ourselves. As we deal with life’s unpredictable and chaotic nature of life, we encounter situations where the answers aren’t clear-cut, and the path forward isn’t always obvious. In these moments, trusting our own judgment, intuition, and abilities becomes crucial. It’s about recognizing that we may not have all the answers, but we have the capacity to figure things out as we go along. Self-trust should start being built in early childhood. When children learn to believe in themselves and their decisions early on, they grow up more confident and capable. Letting them make choices and learn from their mistakes helps them trust themselves.