Car trips with the Young Viking are fast becoming one of my favourite times with him.
Aside the fact he keeps up when I invariably move at “Catholic civilisational speed” whenever I go do errands (usually at the hardware store), and is helpful carrying odds and sods on our way to the car when I have heavier stuff with me, the conversations are positively fascinating and usually of better quality than I have with most adults.
We don’t let them go on iPads and so on, limiting the exposure of screens to the odd duo-lingua “game” but sometimes one of them manages to sneak a YT video on the TV when we are otherwise occupied, less so now that we are getting. more organised, but somewhere along the line they had got enough exposure that he was interested or knew who Mr. Beast was.
I barely know who he is other than a YT “personality” that is a ticket-taking fake that has some or various associations to some or multiple pedophile adjacent generic evil scum. It’s part of the reason why YT type videos are banned and they can only watch the occasional full feature film. I have explained to them in basic terms why that is, in accordance with their age, and he is generally keen to impress me with his ability to grasp the concepts I discuss with him, but keep in mind that I have NOT discussed with him any theology at all aside taking him to church when HE asks me, or his sisters do (they are all generally always happy to do so as a little team of savages). The full extend of my theological conversations with him has been limited to me showing hm how to kneel and cross himself on entering a Church and doing so before meals.
My reasoning is that knowing my children and the DNA they received from both myself and their mother, trying to impose anything on them by edict is a guaranteed way to have it fail miserably. So I just go about my own way to demonstrate gratefulness to God and as they observe and ask questions I answer them as briefly and simply as possible. Given my general slackness in piety, it’s also a rather subtle event for them to notice. But I know trying to impose any artificial sense of duty on them is absolutely not going to work. Call it Sigma genetics, contrarian DNA, rebellious spirit of freedom, or what have you, but such is the way of my family DNA as far back as anyone ever cared to look.
So… to the story.
We are driving and at some point, out of the blue he mentions Mr.Beast:
YV: Mr Beast is a stupid Youtuber, so I am not going to listen to him, but he has a LOT on money dad. How did he get that?
(He is inordinately aware of the concept of money, and was since I think he could speak. And the value of Gold. I have no idea why or how, as it’s not anything we particularly care about or discuss)
Me: Well, guys like that, they get given a lot of money to present in certain way, or try to influence how people think.
YV: But who gives them money?
Me: Not good people. People who want you to believe all the lies they say. So you see people like that on YouTube and you think he’s cool and good, but really he’s teaching you lies while you don’t realise.
YV: So they take money to lie?
Me: Pretty much, yeah.
YV: But why?
Me: People are weak son. There are two types of people, the ones that will take money if you offer them enough of it, and the ones who will not.
YV: How do you mean?
Me: Ok, let me make an example. Remember when I gave you and your sister 10 euro for helping clean up the drive?
YV: Yes
Me: Ok, that was like getting paid to do a job, right? It was no problem to do that, I didn’t ask you to do anything bad, or wrong.
YV: Yeah.
Me: Ok what if I or someone else said: “I’ll give you a 100 euro, but you need to punch your little sister in the face” what would you say then?
YV: (indignant) No!
Me: What if it’s a thousand euro?
YV: No! I don’t care how much money they say.
Me: Good. That’s the right way to be son.
YV: I don’t care if it’s a lot of money, because family is the most importantest thing! (yes he said it that way, not a typo).
Then he paused for about two seconds and added:
YV: Except for God. God is the most important of all.
I am not often at a loss for words, but I did glance at him while driving, he was his usual impassive and calm self, looking out the front of the car at the road.
I mean, he is 6.
I was well over my mid-forties before I tentatively concluded the same, and sometimes I am still hovering on the brink of family before God now, and got it at age 6.
In the end all I could say was just…
Me: Yes. You’re right [YV name].
Honestly I think he’s teaching me more about God than I ever will teach him anything on the subject.
This post was originally published on my Substack. Link here
