When I was born in the early 90's, it was just the done thing. I have been christened, my sister and brother have both been christened, Sam and his brother are christened and all of the kids I grew up with were christened. So when we announced we were pregnant it was just assumed that our child would be christened too.
Sam and I talked about this lots when we were pregnant, and even more, after Harry was born. We aren't religious in the slightest, in fact, the only time I have ever been into a church was to attend christenings of younger siblings or other children in our social group growing up. We felt that if Harry, and any other children we may have in the future, wanted to be christened later on in life we would respect that and of course, it would happen, but while he is too young to make that decision, we would not be christening Harry.
It was an important decision for us because we felt that a christening really didn't mean anything as we do not believe.
I know there are plenty of reasons that people christen their child. Some come from families like mine and it is just expected. Others feel like it will make the child feel left out if they are not christened because all of their friend's children are getting christened. Some do it because there is a belief that their children will be able to go to better schools with religious views. And then there are the people who do it because they are strongly religious and that is what is done.
After speaking to some other parents about why they made the choice they did about christenings, these are some of the answers we got.
Cheryl from http://mummyof5miracles.com/ said 'I chose naming ceremonies for my children as I am not religious in the slightest but still wanted them to have a special day. Instead of godparents they have supportive parents.'
Amy Treasure (https://www.amytreasure.com/) said 'I think it makes sense not to christen children unless you are a person of faith.'
And Rachel, from https://lukeosaurusandme.co.uk/, said 'I've not been christened and I'm not religious so wouldn't christen my children. I think they can make their own decisions when they are older'
So there are lots of people who chose not to christen their children, but that doesn't mean its wrong to if you chose to. It is your choice.
I know there are plenty of reasons that people christen their child. Some come from families like mine and it is just expected. Others feel like it will make the child feel left out if they are not christened because all of their friend's children are getting christened. Some do it because there is a belief that their children will be able to go to better schools with religious views. And then there are the people who do it because they are strongly religious and that is what is done.
After speaking to some other parents about why they made the choice they did about christenings, these are some of the answers we got.
Cheryl from http://mummyof5miracles.com/ said 'I chose naming ceremonies for my children as I am not religious in the slightest but still wanted them to have a special day. Instead of godparents they have supportive parents.'
Amy Treasure (https://www.amytreasure.com/) said 'I think it makes sense not to christen children unless you are a person of faith.'
And Rachel, from https://lukeosaurusandme.co.uk/, said 'I've not been christened and I'm not religious so wouldn't christen my children. I think they can make their own decisions when they are older'
So there are lots of people who chose not to christen their children, but that doesn't mean its wrong to if you chose to. It is your choice.
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