The Writing Mamas Daily Blog
Each day on the Writing Mamas Daily Blog, a different member will write about mothering.If you're a mom then you've said these words, you've made these observations and you've lived these situations - 24/7.
And for that, you are a goddess.
Thursday, April 24, 2008
STOP MAKING SENSE
My son Nick, a fifth grader, had procrastinated completing his history assignment all week. Now, on a warm Saturday afternoon, he was stuck at the dining room table, reading several pages on World War I.
“Mom, why is war legal?” he asked. His face had that scrunched up puzzled look he gets when he thinks adults make up the stupidest rules.
“What do you mean?”
“Why can people kill other people and it’s legal?”
“Great question,” I responded. “The President and Congress declare a war and that makes it legal.”
“Can anyone go kill people then?” he probed. “Like could you go and shoot somebody?”
“No, you have to be in the military. In the Army, the Marines, the Navy or the Air Force,” I explained. His questions were a bit disorienting, and I was intrigued by how foreign the idea of sanctioned killing was to my boy.
“Mom, this is so weird,” he starts. “Get this - President Woodrow Wilson got the United States into the war – he declared war on Germany. But then he received the Nobel Peace Prize for bringing peace to Europe. Does that make sense?
Nope, I could not explain that. Nick’s fresh perspective made me question some of the rules of war that I take as just the way it is. And I loved his critical thinking and questioning. Good job Mom and Dad. Good job school. I’ve got a peacenik in training.
By Marianne Lonsdale
Stumble This Post
“Mom, why is war legal?” he asked. His face had that scrunched up puzzled look he gets when he thinks adults make up the stupidest rules.
“What do you mean?”
“Why can people kill other people and it’s legal?”
“Great question,” I responded. “The President and Congress declare a war and that makes it legal.”
“Can anyone go kill people then?” he probed. “Like could you go and shoot somebody?”
“No, you have to be in the military. In the Army, the Marines, the Navy or the Air Force,” I explained. His questions were a bit disorienting, and I was intrigued by how foreign the idea of sanctioned killing was to my boy.
“Mom, this is so weird,” he starts. “Get this - President Woodrow Wilson got the United States into the war – he declared war on Germany. But then he received the Nobel Peace Prize for bringing peace to Europe. Does that make sense?
Nope, I could not explain that. Nick’s fresh perspective made me question some of the rules of war that I take as just the way it is. And I loved his critical thinking and questioning. Good job Mom and Dad. Good job school. I’ve got a peacenik in training.
By Marianne Lonsdale
Labels: Marianne Lonsdale
Stumble This Post
