Mom's Corner - Patriotic Duty...

I once taught with a lady that believed it was “our patriotic duty to have kids and to raise them right.” Each day at lunch in the workroom she would drone on in reference to this belief. In fact, she even said that it was because of this belief that she entered the education profession! At the time I was not married, surely did not have kids, and thought this woman was perhaps the craziest person I had ever met.

I just could not see the act of having kids as being any sort of “patriotic duty,” and “raising them right” might be one of the many things I was to help do as an educator and I surely hoped to do as a parent, but, again, a patriotic duty to do this? Not so much I thought.

It just seemed to me that this lady had taken this perspective a little too far…
Since then, this crazy lady has retired, and I wonder if she is even still with us. I have changed a little too…been in education ten years, almost finished two advanced degrees, become the mother to four...You know, times have changed for me!
So, the other day I was standing in Target, all of my kids having some sort of melt-down, looking at American flags when I could not help but to recall those many workroom lunches with the crazy lady and her speeches on “patriotic duty.” I will admit, I laughed out loud as I recollected. And then I thought: “If this is really one of my patriotic duties, I am a horribly bad American!” I had just told the 8 year old that he earned the right to ride in the cart until we left the store (yes, he is too old for that), threatened to take away the 4-year-old’s twenty favorite toys, mortified the 10-year-old just by correcting him in public, and resolved myself to the fact that the baby was going to scream until I was good and ready to leave Target! Oh yea, I am a fine American!

Yet, as I stood there with a brightly colored American flag in hand, I could not help but to think: “Here I am raising kids in the greatest country in the world, and as their mother, it is my duty to teach them about and instill in them patriotism – a devout love - for this great nation.”

While I am sure each generation sings the same song about their predecessors, when I think about my children and how I have raised them thus far, I fear they do not have the same understanding or pride in what it means to be an American as I did at their age (those many, many years ago).

Case-in-point…Standing there in Target with the American flag in hand my 4-year-old asks, “Mommy why do you want to get that flag? We can find a prettier one!” To which the 8-year-old promptly replies, “Because it is an American flag and you were born in America.” The 8-year-old had a point, but he was totally missing the mark on what it really means to be an American.

I did not throw the flag in my cart…Instead, I held it close to my heart as we headed towards the checkout line. It was at that moment that I decided it was time for me to start anew with my patriotic teachings to my children, and I as a parent needed desperately to reframe the meaning of what it means to be an American for my children.

Ten years later I finally understood just a little of what that crazy lady preached about each and every day at lunch!

I am going to be honest, I do not know exactly what I am going to do to portray my American pride or to open their eyes to the greatness of this fine nation to my children. I do not have a master plan…

Instead, I am finding every teachable moment I can. On our way to school we look for American flags; we play counting games with the numbers of stars; when we put the flag in our yard we talked about proper display; when the news comes on and they speak about our troops, we expand on the conversation; we say prayers for our country…Have any other ideas?

With that, I hope you and your family enjoy the 4th of July, and on this anniversary of the birth of our great nation, may you take time to appreciate it and those that have given the greatest sacrifice for it…and spend some time with our youngest Americans so that they might grow to have the same pride and heart for their country.