"Joseph Smith? Who's he?" A wonderful parenting moment

In 2010 my wonderful wife left Mormonism and patiently waited for several years while I carried on insisting I would take our kids on my own every week. We were both BIC, temple sealed etc etc.

By giving me the respect and support, my wife also gave me the space to slowly open my perspectives instead of backing me into a corner. I started asking myself questions in 2012 and, finally, in 2014, I'd had enough and stopped going too. The day I told the kids they didn't have to go any, my middle son fist pumped in delight. He was 9 years old at the time.

This evening, while doing a school home work assignment, he asked us for suggestions on religious leaders he could write about. I, jokingly, suggested: "What about Joseph Smith?"

He replied, "Joseph Smith? Who's he?" A few seconds passed while I stood there, choking back the lump of delight and emotion in my throat. He then added, "Oh, was he that guy who started Mormonism?"

I realised what a gift we had given him and the other two kids. My wife and I will possibly spend the rest of our lives feeling an emotional weight at the mere mention of his name and everything connected to it... but for our kids, Mormonism will largely be an irrelevance. It will just be that forgettable thing they did when they were little kids and the church a few of their cousins go to.