Friday, September 14, 2012

Ignorance is Bliss

This past Tuesday was September 11th, which I know everyone reading this remembers well.  To our kids, however, it's just a day us adults talk about.  It's kind of like when we used to hear about our parents talking about JFK getting shot or our Grandparents remembering Pearl Harbor.  We can recall exactly where we were when we heard about the first tower falling, but to them it's just a story.

Now we call September 11th, Patriot Day, in remembrance of all the heroes and innocent civilians who lost their lives on that horribly sad and scary day.  At the girls' elementary school, they encourage all the students to dress in red, white, and blue to mark the occasion, even though for the most part they have no idea what that day means.  They will see images and hear stories at they get older, but they will not understand the feelings of sadness and fear that surrounded that day, and how much it changed us as a nation.  In some ways though, I think ignorance is bliss.  Especially at their age.  They don't need to know just how terrible the world and people can be.  Not yet anyway.  Fortunately, Sonya proved just how sunshiny she still sees things.

On Monday night I had all the girls take out their red, white and blue dresses they wore for 4th of July.  I told them they had to wear those colors for Patriot Day the next day.  Although, I may have been calling it Patriot's Day by mistake, which my mom pointed out later, is not the same.  There is a Patriot's Day in Boston in April, the day of the Boston Marathon. The Patriots also happen to be the football team we follow very closely in this house since my husband is from New England.  If you don't have a husband or boyfriend in your house, you might not know, football started last week.  In this house,  we know all too well.  

So there I was telling the girls about supporting Partiot's Day by wearing their patriotic colors. I was in Sonya's room that evening helping her find her dress and going on about how important the following day was, when she finally stopped me,

"But mom?" She asked, "What if the other kids at school don't really LIKE The Patriot's?"

Haha!  Oh...Ummm....I guess I never really explained fully what Patriot Day September 11th was about.  So after I finished giggling at her question, I gave her the children's Reader's Digest version about the day.  She seemed to understand better why she was wearing our country's colors and that it wasn't for as shallow a reason as to support a football team, (albeit an awesome football team with a hot quarterback).  

I have to admit though, I envy her innocence of the events of that day.  I hope she and her sisters never have to experience what the rest of us did eleven years ago.  To those who lost their lives and the loved ones left behind-we will always remember, and will make sure when our children are old enough, they understand the importance of what happened that day.  And that no, it's not just about a football team.

No comments: