Children need to learn to show appreciation

By By Michelle Blaylock, Mom’s Corner
Sept. 11, 2001. I suppose most everyone remembers what they were doing that day. Our world changed and yet it didn’t.
As Americans we are still privileged to live in a free country. “Free” meaning we have “freedoms” not that everything is free. Our freedoms have been preserved because of the dedication of our police, firemen and women, military personnel, and other “protectors.” Thank you for your sacrifices.
I think it is very important for our children to see people who serve the community and our country as “heroes.” This weekend, while at a soccer game, I overheard a Mom tell her child that if she didn’t come with her a policeman would come take her away. Umm, excuse me, but isn’t the policeman supposed to be the good guy?
I must wonder who that Mom tells her child to look for if she’s accidentally separated from her.
Quite a few years (and a couple moves) ago we had a friend that was a volunteer firefighter. He said there were cases of children hiding from firefighters, because they were frightened by the clothes and safety gear. Therefore, our friend made a point of “gearing-up” when he did fire safety days at schools so the children would know what a firefighter looked like and would not be frightened of him or her.
Children pick up on our attitudes whether or not we state them. If we show we respect and appreciate people like our police, firefighters, and military, then our children will most likely pick up on that feeling as well.
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