You think they are too little. You assume they couldn’t possibly understand.
After all it’s complex: A Buddhist celebration that includes meditation, monks chanting and 10,000 lanterns being released to the skies. Buddhists believe that they are sending peace and good wishes out into the world with every one. What would you change if you could? What would you wish for the planet? As an adult the symbolism is enchanting, but for a kid?
Ready to light the lanterns
Cameron, 7, followed our instructions to kneel, bow, repeat throughout the ceremony without question. And his excitement was palpable when the time came to release his lantern into the sky. 
I expected nothing more than the joy of a child with a balloon.
But then, after he’d watched it soar, he came over, motioned for me to lower my ear to his lips and said the words that proved I was so wrong:
“Mommy, when I let the lantern go I didn’t make a wish because I wouldn’t change a thing.”
Me neither son. Not one thing.
