Today
was ANZAC Day in Australia. As this public holiday approached I had plans to take
the kids to the Dawn Service at the National War Memorial. They certainly get
up early enough to make it but the more I thought about it, the more I came to
the conclusion that this year wasn’t the right time to introduce them to such a
solemn ceremony. I would want them both to have some level of understanding
about the importance of the day plus the ability to remain relatively quiet
throughout the event. Between Finn’s constant questions and Harper’s current favoured
saying (“I’ve got a SNOT!”) the
chances of them remaining respectfully quiet were about zero.
Instead we baked
(& ate) ANZAC biscuits and watched the March on TV. This way we were able to
field Finn’s many questions (“Why do all
the men have different uniforms?”, “What makes the guns go bang?”) and
introduce a few of the concepts of the day to both kids. As for the Dawn Service, maybe next year......
Looks like a lovely quiet day and a great way to introduce the day without it being overwhelming for you all! maybe if you go next year you could find a place to watch that is a bit of distance from the quiet ceremony to take the pressure off! that said, i think a lot of kids go and noise and all, its beautiful and encouraging for the older people to have them there!
ReplyDeleteUmmm, I know this is a post with a serious overtone but I just snorted my drink out of my nose when I read the 'SNOT' line bahahaha, fitting wouldn't you say?!!!
ReplyDeleteI know, it kind of wrecks the tone of the post, but I HAD to illustrate my point. And I think I did ;)
DeleteOh, and it wasn't me who taught her that word :P