God Bless The U.S.A

Alden has recently become very interested in listening to music. His favorite song is "Dynamite," which has been a huge tool for me in helping us get our basement clean. I simply hook up my MP3 player to our computer's speakers, crank it up as loud as it will go, and the boys and I start cleaning. By the time Taio Cruz sings "Dynamite" four times, our basement is spick and span. I love it! Usually when we finish, Alden wants to listen to Weird Al songs, especially those that have to do with Star Wars and superheros.

Yesterday was a "Dynamite" cleaning day as I've described. When we finished, Alden once again, asked to listen to Weird Al songs. Thobe asked me if we could listen to a song about the U.S.A. (He is really into the U.S.A. and army men. He's made up a super hero named U.S.A. Face, who has a pet eagle named Baldy, and who has an enemy named Al Qaida Face--I'll have to write a post about his later). I thought it would be fun to listen to "God Bless the U.S.A." and turned that on.

We began listening to this song, and Thobe was really happy. Alden asked me if this was a sad song. I told him that it usually makes me cry, but it's not a sad song. We continued to listen, and when it said, "And I won't forget the men who died who gave that right to me," Alden said, "Mom, is this talking about our soldiers?" I told him that it was, and that included two of his great grandparents who fought in World War II. At this point, my sweet Alden said, "Mom, I don't know why, but I think I'm going to cry."

I love that even at such a young age, that Alden has a love for his country, a respect for those who laid down their lives to make us free, and an understanding that God has given us all these blessings. I also love that he is so devoted to his family, even to his ancestors that have gone on before him. What a great blessing it is to be Americans and to be able to use our God-given freedom! I too love my country and my family and am so proud of my son who respects all this too.