A most fulfilling Independence Day. One in which I took time to stop and think about my freedom (including my freedom to get a hundred dollars), which made me feel quite patriotic--even more so than, say, repeating the Pledge of Allegiance at a PTA meeting. I think this is because I chose to think about it, instead of being forced to stand and place my hand over my heart and mumble a bunch of words, while simultaneously trying to figure out how I was going to get my point across and make everyone laugh during my upcoming presentation.
Anyway, I took my friends' advice and listened to the Declaration of Independence on NPR. It was very nice and very interesting to listen to, and could only have been better if I had not tried to make it an educational experience for my kids, too.
Mom (brightly): Hey, kids, come and listen to this.
Kid #1 (who will remain unnamed to protect her privacy): I'm bored.
Mom: Great, well, I've got something for you to do. Listen to this. It'll be great.
K: What are we listening to?
Mom: The Declaration of Independence.
K (loud groan): Oooohhhh. But that's boring.
Mom: Well, you just said you didn't have anything to do. Now you can do this.
K: But I don't want to.
Mom (voice rising): Sit down and listen to this. It's five stinking minutes of your day, and you need to do something to celebrate this country's independence. So siddown!
Kid #1 groans again and sits down, interrupting every thirty seconds to ask questions like, "How long is this going to take," etc. Kid #2 sits quietly and obediently, totally tuned out, eyes roving over the bookshelf until he sees something that interests him more than freedom, democracy, and unalienable rights--a book on computer programming. Takes it out and reads it. I can only assume he was absorbing the radio broadcast simultaneously. Kid #3 doesn't even bother to respond or enter the room.
After that I just ignored them all and listened, after all, you can lead a horse to water . . . I didn't even get too distracted, except when Sarah Vowell read her part and I started thinking about The Incredibles.
So despite our deficiencies, and the things that go wrong, and some of the corrupt people that run it, I love our country, and the fact that we are free.
I also love that I have the freedom to eat a big ol' juicy hamburger, and then win a Scrabble game and a Boggle game on the very same day against my dear sisters-in-law, nieces, and mother-in-law, who are all very good sports and very kind about letting me beat them. And now I'm thinking about going out to get a hundred dollars.
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