Skip to main content

Preparing military children for Veterans Day

This year, as I prepare to celebrate Veterans Day, I realized that I have done a poor job of educating my own children about veterans.  I've taken for granted the fact that we are a military family and so much of the history and traditions of the military are ingrained in how we live life.  I've also taken for granted the fact that my children see their dad go off to work every day.  They know a bit about his job and they see him dress in his uniform, but they don't truly understand how this is different from other dads.  When I asked my children to answer the simple question of "Who is your military hero?" They didn't understand what the military was.  I've taught my children to stand for the Star Spangled Banner and Taps.  They know to place their hand over their heart.  I've even taught them about the "sounds of freedom" so that they can identify when one of Daddy's jets is taking off or flying overhead.

To my children, these things are the norm.  They have yet to understand the sacrifices made by so many men and women.  I haven't done a good job of teaching my children about the pledge that these brave men and women have taken, although they've heard it repeated at numerous promotion ceremonies.  I haven't explained to my children the dangers and threats around the world.  Why? Because I want them to think that the world is a good place.  I want to protect my children.

But, by not educating my children about Veterans Day, I am doing them a disservice.  By not teaching them about wars, conflicts and the truth of military service I am also not teaching them about peace, honor, loyalty, and the greatness of the men and women who have chosen to take this pledge and defend our country. 

I know that a lot of the history of Veterans Day will be too much for my children to comprehend, but this year I will teach them about #thosewhodared.  We will talk about our own family and friends who have served or are serving.  We will discuss why Daddy sometimes has to go away for extended periods of time instead of just saying, "Daddy's on the other side of the world."

By explaining about war and military service, we are teaching our children about being a part of something greater than your own self.  And, by teaching them this, hopefully they understand the greater circle in which they are living by supporting their own military family.




This blog was not sponsored by USAA but supports #thosewhodared.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

I'm no longer telling my kids to have fun

Today, I've made an important realization that is changing the way that I talk to my children.  I am no longer going to tell them to have fun. Don't get me wrong, I desperately desire that my children find joy, happiness and laughter through numerous experiences and adventures.  But, my children's definition of fun and mine have two VERY different meanings. I'll give you an example. My almost four-year-old son loves to destroy things.  He's like his dad - a man who just wants to learn how things work, as well as cause and effect.  So, he takes apart toys, sister's dolls, kitchen appliances, and more.  He tears books because "the story was in the wrong order."  He pushes buttons - both literally and figuratively.  He colors on walls, floors, computer monitors, furniture, carpet and more because he wants to create maps and "building plans" for his Duplos.  This is his idea of fun . Do you see my dilemma?  His idea of fun is so completel

Leadership Mom: SWOT Analysis

In business, leaders often analyze our Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats through a SWOT analysis.  So, if we are going to look at our role as moms as being the greatest leadership opportunity to us, let's start with analyzing ourselves and our kids.  Here's the SWOT I developed for my family: Family SWOT Analysis As a doting mother, there are hundreds of strengths that I could put up here for my kids.  Their hugs, kisses, bedtime stories and prayers, the fact that they come to me when they're seeking healing from an injury (physical or emotional), the notes and drawings they make for me, their precious hearts when they try to help me or that they've learned how to use the Keurig to bring me coffee in the morning...I could go on and on. Now, here's the part where we get honest with ourselves.  Yes, we love our kids and we love our family (or, hopefully, most of the time), but we are not perfect.  Nor should we be perfect.  As we analyze oursel

AIOs, Pocket, and Prefolds...Oh, my!

As mentioned in my previous blog, cloth diapers are not your momma's cloth diapers any more.  Now, the lingo can be daunting.  There are AIOs, AI2s, diaper covers, doublers, fitted diapers, flat diapers, hybrid diapers, inserts, liners, one-size diapers, pocket diapers, and prefolds. When I first began my cloth diaper research, all of the different options overwhelmed me, and I didn't know where to begin.  So, I did the only thing I knew to do...I asked other moms! While every mom will have a different story to share with cloth diapers, you still get some very good information.  I learned why moms liked the diapers they chose, some of the downsides, and the costs to the different diaper systems.  I also began to develop my own decisions on how I wanted to start the cloth diapers.  When I first thought about using cloth diapers, I was dead set against anything that wasn't an all-in-one (AIO).  These are the Porsches of the diaper world.  There's no messing with diaper pi