Over Christmas when we were having our family supper we mentioned that it was our 3rd Christmas and thought to ask the kids how much they remember from before we had the holidays.
Our oldest son vividly remembers not having Christmas and remembers how boring and annoying going to meetings were.
Our youngest is turning 5 and will grow up never knowing what a meeting is like or what it was like before we did the holidays.
Our middle son said he remembered the meetings and liked them. That comment both concerned me and puzzled me. I was concerned that he would have some lingering affection for meetings and later on seek out witnesses and get trapped again. The puzzling factor was he was absolute hell at the meetings, he wouldn't sit still, he would make noise and cause a fuss and I'd often have to drag him out of the hall or downstairs to try to get him to settle down. We would often leave early or I would be exhausted after from trying to settle him down.
Hoping to trigger a bit of the negative memories about meetings, I asked him if he remembered all the sitting, and fussing and boredom. He said he sure did.
Okay, I was now a bit more confused. I asked him if he liked the meetings so much, why did misbehave every single time.
"Because if I was bad, you'd take me downstairs. The meetings weren't fun, but I liked to spend time with you."
So I got conned by a 4 year old, but thinking back he was alot smarter than I ever was.