Explaining the Difference Between Real & Fake on Television

For some reason, this seems to be a phenomenon and I haven't been able to figure out how to avoid it. My oldest child is 18 and it started with her. When she was around 7-8 she started tying to figure out what was real on tv and what wasn't. This was before the reality shows kicked into high gear.

I tried explaining that cartoons are never real. Someone draws them. They're like a comic strip that somebody colored in. The cartoon characters are cute, but they just aren't real.

Then there are the shows with real people in them, but they are only playing a role. Today, my Doodle and I were home alone because Buddy had a basketball game and Doodle had "it" coming out both ends.

It was a marathon tv day. He put in Hotel For Dogs. Have I mentioned Doodle is 6 and has a sweet spirit? Whenever they get to the part where the brother and sister have to go to different places to live, he tells me, "This is the sad part," and he cries. It's so sweet.

I thought I'd give it a go again and try to explain that the dogs are just actors. Someone stands behind the camera and tells the dogs what to do. The boy and girl aren't really brother and sister. They get paid for what they do, it's their job. The confused look on his face tells me it may still be a couple years before he understands it.

When my 10 yr old asks me, "Is this one real?" I know he's still is trying to discern between fiction and reality.

I wonder how this spills over to their spiritual lives. God exists, but we can't see Him. Heaven is real, we just can't visit it right now. God commands his angels, but we don't have face to face conversations with them.

When will God become their reality, not just the one I'm trying to grow them up in? When will their Creator click in their minds as being real beyond a shadow of a doubt? He wasn't made up by men thousands of years ago. When will their faith kick in on a level that it becomes their own? I can't wait to see it!