There are not many places we can take our children anymore to see our patriotic history up close. But in our nation’s capital, these places are plentiful and thanks to the magic of the Internet, we can share them with our children
The National Museum of American History was the second most memorable sight I took in when as a young 20-something I attended a scientific conference in Washington D.C. The most memorable was the Vietnam Veteran’s Memorial, the thought of which still sends tingles down my spine. But the National Museum was tremendous. Being a young 20-something in town for a few days with my barely teenaged sister in tow, I decided that she must see every inch and cranny of the museums in one day. If any of you have been to that immense storehouse of history, you can guess how sore your feet would be if you managed to see everything in a day (I have a feeling that as filled with wonder as I was at the history around me, the experience still haunts my now adult sister’s nightmares).
Our children need moments of awe and inspiration and the story of the Star-Spangled Banner is one of those stories.
Teaching our actual history to our own children is critical, especially in this week leading up to the anniversary of a moment in which a covenant was struck in order to create the most free nation on earth. It is not really about the parades, picnics, and fireworks.
