In the end, to me it doesn’t matter whether he believes in cryptids or not. It’s his decision and his life. I’ll be happy to present him with the information and evidence I’ve read, and let him make his own decisions about cryptids–even if it turns out he decides they’re a bunch of foolishness.

I’d rather him think for himself and weigh the evidence for himself to make his own decisions.

Adults need to see things from a beginners mind to learn anything new. If you know everything, then you will adapt what you see to what you know. Which is fine, but it decreases creativity and new correct knowledge.

I’m certain many people believe that being in the cold creates getting the “cold”. Is that true?

I’m just saying

Why wouldn’t my children believe in cryptids? I believe in them, and whilst I have never said, believe or else (grins), I certainly share my opinions and reasoning with them. My son is a firm believer, my daughter is on the fence but doesn’t really care either way. My son’s favourite cryptid is Mothman, and we truly enjoy discussing all shows and books we’ve read, even when we don’t agree with each other.

I’m proud that he believes.

As for belief in the unproven LMAO. That’s actually something I go through at least once a month with my brood. Most the of kids could care less either way, however my eldest daughter who intends to join the AF after graduation this year, and one of my sons are polar opposites.

She believes nearly anything that anyone tells her and that frightens me. She thinks anything ‘can’ be real and gets very upset with me when I try to tell her anything or even discuss the subject. Questions like ‘why do you think that’ or ‘do you have any proof’ or ‘can you trust the person who told you this’ turn into a hormone driven storm. This got especially bad when I found out her science teacher could not discuss evolution due to the ‘teach the controversy or keep your mouth shut’ protocol the school district seems to favor.

Now my polar opposite son is quite different, he likes to look at evidence. He doesn’t believe in ghosts at all and finds the whole idea silly. He constantly teases me for watching things like Ghost Hunters; but then I will point out how they do try to debunk a lot of things and I explain that I don’t necessarily think ‘ghosts’ are spirits of the dead, I tend to think they are a set phenomena that science simply hasn’t advanced enough to measure and quantify…YET. He and I can easily sit down and have detailed conversations regarding Big Foot, Nessie, sea monsters (I’m always calling him to look at stuff from Nat Geo, Pharyngula and the like) and several of our own local cryptids and ghosts. He’s much more skeptical than I am and that’s fine. Some evidence to me goes into the ‘could be’ pile while he is more of the ‘if its not positive, then its a negative’ school of thought.

But what I want most of all is for them to be able to think and decide for themselves. Be able to look at evidence; what people say, what people DO and judge from there. And that is in no way shape or form specific to cryptids, that goes for school, religion, boyfriends, girlfriends, acquaintances, job offers….. critical thinking is the gift that keeps on giving. The world has more than enough sheep.

PS I never taught my children about Santa, Easter Bunny or Tooth Fairy…they heard about them from other children and I explained the differences between stories, myths and traditions to them. But I did warn them to keep their mouths shut as NO ONE likes the kid who tells the other kids that Santa isn’t real.