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Health & Fitness

Teach Your Children the True Meaning of Veterans Day

Children need to know why we should be grateful to those who serve and those who have served.

Today is Veterans Day. 

My children will honor our veterans with songs and poems and assemblies at school. I think this is great and should be a mandated part of our curriculum.  Children should learn songs that show that we are proud of our country and of the men and women that serve/served it. 

My grandfather attended the one at Churchill for the past few years and really enjoyed the show of thanks. I was always brought to tears by the events (and I was not alone).  If you are not in a family with military members, it is so easy to no think about the huge sacrifices these men and women make on a daily basis.

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I sit down with my kids and talk about how my grandmother did not see my grandfather for years.  Children did not see their fathers.  You didn’t Skype.  You didn’t call.  You got letters now and then, but they were on the move so it could take months for him to get a letter.  Many husbands and fathers didn’t come
home.  I want that to sink in.

Service men and women are away from their family and friends protecting us and others around the world. We wrote thank you letters and drew pictures for them.  This was not the letters that were extra credit for LA or required, but because we need to say thank you.  

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Over the years, we have sent packages and Girl Scout cookies to service members with a generic email that I check.  We have heard back from several and they send pictures of their unit and are always so happy to hear from us.

Then, we talk about how lucky we are to live here and have the military members we have and have had. They get to walk to school and not worry about the violence of war on the way.  My three girls are allowed to read and write.  They can read and speak about the Bible without fear of being put in jailed or killed.  Their mom can even write a blog and complain about the schools, the local government, and even the President if she wants.

What are you going to do to help your kids remember our Veterans on Veterans Day?

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