A Pledge

Each morning at my school begins with the students standing for the pledge of allegiance, followed by the singing of a patriotic song. One of the kids in my class belts out the songs with such gusto that some of the other students stare open-mouthed at her. I don’t know if she loves her country that much or if she’s trying to impress me, but her enthusiasm is a beautiful thing, and it makes me smile. Recently, I told a friend about our school’s morning routine, and he said that he could never do it; that he has a problem with the idea of the daily pledge and the jingoism inherent in such songs as “Proud to Be an American.” On a certain level, I can see his point. The irony of compelling children to pledge allegiance to a free nation is not lost on me, but the world isn’t that cut and dry. These kids will hopefully grow up to be free thinkers – people who can decide for themselves what they believe and when they’re being manipulated. For now, I think it’s important for them to have this idealized view of America to believe in – the land of the free and the home of the brave where everyone is truly treated equally, regardless of religion, race, sexual orientation, political party, or zip code. It's a good frame of mind to start from. As with most things, age will reveal to these kids the cracks in the façade, and they will come to realize that the ideal presented in the pledge and those songs is something to work toward, that what we have is good, but it can be so much better and we’re not there yet. Maybe that’s just my rationalization that gets me through each morning, but I hope it’s not. I’ve said before on this blog that I plan to shelter Violet from the horrors of the real world for as long as I can. It’s the idealized illusions of childhood that make childhood so wonderful, the belief that Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny are real, that Mom and Dad know everything, that you can go through life without lying, and that the America we live in is the same one we sing about each morning.

88 days old