Saving Our Country--One Child at a Time

If you have read many of my blogs, you know how fiercely patriotic I am. Lately I have been saddened to see how many Americans no longer have the "American dream". Listening to the news, you would think that we live in a terrible country who hates everyone else and is overrun with greed and corruption. What government doesn't have their fair share of greed and corruption? But it is not what defines us as a country.

So for the next few weeks I am going to write a blog each week to talk to you parents about hope and change we can really believe in. In actuality we live in the best country that has ever been on the face of the home we call earth. Americans cherish individual liberty, creativity, and growth. Our constitution guarantees that we have the right to "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." There are very few countries, even today, in which that is true.

I am calling on parents to "brainwash" their kids--in a good way. During the days building up to the Independence Day celebrations, talk to your kids. Tell them all the wonderful things that our ancestors have stood and died for. Teach them what is in the constitution and how the magic of our constitution is that is can be changed. Our leaders can be changed and laws can be changed. We hold national elections every two years to guarantee that no one person can control our lives.

My dad "brainwashed" me. He fought in WW II for our freedom and was very proud of it. He told me on a regular basis how wonderful this country is. He grew up a poor country boy from Tennesse and was able to go to college and have professional success that his father could only dream of. The first song I ever learned was the Marine Corps Hymn, and he also made sure I knew other patriotic songs. He insisted that we be silent when the National Anthem was played to reflect on what it means. To this day, I still get tears when I hear America the Beautiful or God Bless America. Smaltzy? Yes, but is that a bad thing?

Explain to your children that yes, we have not always done the right thing in this country. We are a government of people who are fallible and make mistakes. However, our lawmakers, while they may differ on what is best, all try to come from a place of right intention. And if they don't, we can move someone else in that will. We are always the first country to come to the aid of another country in crisis, even our enemies.

Our individual freedoms are precious and our kids need to understand that if we and they are apathetic, we can lose them. Don't count on your schools to teach your kids what you want them to know. Some teach history from the left and some teach it from the right. To me, history is history and should be a retelling of facts without bias from either side.

Over the next few weeks, I am going to share some ideas that you can use to teach your children about our amazing history and why we should be proud to be Americans. Sadly, too many times these days they are hearing how awful we are--most of which is absolutely not true. When we do make blunders, we eventually find a way to try to make it right. That is what we do. We are Americans, proud to be from the greatest nation on earth.