In my down time (lol) when I"m catching up on e-mails or making dinner, or cleaning toys or...well anyways...I have been watching Ken Burns' The Civil War. Why? I don't know. For one, despite its legacy I've never seen it. Driving up from Texas we passed through beautiful country with many connections to the American Civil War, and it just got me thinking about how little I know about this major event in our country's history. And how much I want to know. I think having come off graduate school and focusing so heavily on a particular subject area I have also found that turning my mind towards another focus has been surprisingly helpful in the transition.
To say this history is fascinating is a terrible understatement. To say it's life-changing is also an understatement.
The episode I am currently watching is called "War is all Hell' which is a quote attributed to General Sherman.
Annie listens to podcasts from the BBC, one of which is called CBeebies. As I observed photos of the destruction of Atlanta and Charleston, she emerged from her room and asked me to help her with an episode she did not want to listen to anymore. As I deleted the podcast in question (she didn't like that they used the world 'slime' which is 'gross') I noticed she had listened to an episode about Poppies, in commemoration of World War One. I quickly thought "What does my four year old know about World War One...what does she know about war?"
So I asked her about poppies. And she told me the podcast was good but sad. I asked her why, and she said she didn't remember...but the look on her face showed that despite not remembering the details, there was something that she understood. She told me that war means people decide they don't want to be friends anymore, and that sometimes in war, people die. Something about war that she already was aware of. Something we had not taught her. This, I did not expect.
Today the world looks to Gaza, Israel, Iraq, Syria, Ukraine-countries I saw in conflict with just 30 seconds of scanning the headlines. Annie does not know anything about this, nor should she at 4. She does not know about World War One or Two, about the American Civil War, not even about the sacrificial military experience of our own family and friends. I don't know how to prepare her for certain things that she will experience in life, such as war. At 32 there are things about war that I am still learning, that I am not prepared for yet. But I guess, are we ever? I just saw photos of 14 year old Confederate soldiers. 10 years older than Annie is now. What did they know about war? (and the list of questions goes on...)
I think when this comes up again, at least, we will turn to Joshua, Chapter 4.
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