Teaching my Kids to Pray

My kids are  4 1/2- and 6 1/2-years old.  We don't really attend church due to mostly a couple of issues.  I am very open-minded, as is my husband.  We don't want our kids to be closed-minded, so it makes us a little hesitant to attend a single church.

My hubby's mom was raised very strict Greek Orthodox, though she doesn't consider herself any particular religion now.  My hubby's father's ancestry is Indonesian and Dutch, so he comes from an ancestry of many religions.  My family's ancestry is mostly Native American and Irish.  I also kinda feel that by choosing one religion, we would be rejecting part of our heritage.

My parents attended church very irregularly and I never got along very well with the other kids in Sunday School.  The churches that my parents attended were so "political" and cliquey.  The kids whose parents donated the most money or who held leadership positions within the church were treated better than the others.  These were also the kids in school who behaved the worst, so I just didn't buy into the church politics and still don't.

I admit that I have values that don't coincide with most religious values.  I have many friends that have alternative lifestyles, but to each their own.  I don't want to judge others and don't want my kids to.  My kids are growing up in the area where I grew up.  This was already a diverse area when I was a kid, and is more diverse than it was back then.  Especially living here, I want my kids to value diversity and equality.  Being closed-minded will not help them.

Despite my lack of formal religious background, I seem to have been born with a good head on my shoulders.  I have always tried to do the right thing and not to lie.  My kids, however, seem to need some guidance with doing the right thing.

I feel so flawed and lacking in my own religious background that I have hesitated to step into the role of teaching my kids about religion.  I don't know any of the official prayers.  I have found praying makes me feel better, but it has been something I do alone.  Like I said, I have issues with organized religion.  I typically  read my kids a bedtime story, then they tell me each a story.  I have begun to incorporate a small prayer at the end with my kids.  I pray with them and say a small prayer, usually just asking for guidance, health, and protection for our family and loved ones and ask them if they have anything to add and they repeat "amen" after me.

Like all issues in parenting, all I can do is to hope that I'm doing the right thing and guiding them in the right direction.

Thanks for reading!

Vanessa