Manifest Destiny

Yesterday was a very pleasant day. We went over to my in-laws house. G. installed a new DVD drive on my MIL's computer. The baby was fairly well behaved. He's seen G-mother and G-father enough over the past couple of months, so he'll actually allow them to hold him now, which is great! S. D. and S. F. got along for the most part. Little G. fell asleep at the beginning of dinner, which allowed me to eat with everyone else and have adult conversation afterward. What a treat!

It was the adult, after dinner conversation that was so interesting this evening. S. F., our 12 1/2 year old with Asperger's, is somewhat obsessed with politics. Most 12 1/2 year olds couldn't tell you all of the candidates running for the presidency, unless forced to know it for a history test. They also couldn't tell you how many members are on the Supreme Court or their names. That is definitely not the case with S. F. She's a political junkie. She joined in the conversation as we discussed political candidates, Ann Coulter's statement about campaigning for Hillary Clinton if John McCain is the Republican nominee, the war in Iraq, and illegal immigration. Suddenly, in the middle of all this conversation, S. F. pipes up with the question, "What ever happened to Manifest Destiny?" Naturally, we adults were stunned. What 12 year old comments on Manifest Destiny? Obviously mine.
Ever since her comment, I've been reflecting. What ever did become of the idea of Manifest Destiny? It touched on 3 basic themes:

• the virtue of the American people and American institutions
• the mission to spread American ideals, thus remaking the world in the image of the U. S., and
• the idea that the U. S. had a destiny under God to accomplish this work.

Some would say that the idea of Manifest Destiny is nothing more than hubris, but I disagree. Yes, the U. S. has its fair share of problems. The virtue of the American people is not what it once was. If you don't believe me, just take a look at Brittany Spears, and how we, the public, feed off the tragedy of this obviously, mentally ill young girl. However, even with our warts, we are still the most generous nation on earth. We give more to private charities than any other country. When other countries have natural disasters, we're the first on the scene to lend aid and comfort. What's so wrong with wanting to spread our ideals throughout the world? Freedom for girls to go to school and grow up to be whatever they want is not a horrible idea. The freedom to start your own company to support your family, rather than being dependent upon a bloated federal government is not terrible. You can choose not to agree with me, but I don't see what's so wrong with reshaping the world in the image of a country that wants to spread freedom throughout the world.

Masterpieces

Ten out of twenty-two masterpieces have been created by S. D.'s pre-k classmates. Little G. was great for an hour. Hopefully he'll cooperate as well tomorrow.

The kids were great, but I felt sorry for one little boy who came out in the hall to draw with me. He looked up and said, "I don't know how to draw anything except a stick man. I don't draw a lot." I told him that he could draw a stick man, but he had already seen the other children's drawings and wanted his to be like theirs, too. I suggested that we trace his hand and he color it in, and that's exactly what he did. He was thrilled. He loved coloring his fingers different colors. I wonder if his parents let him draw at home or if their worried that he'll draw on the walls.

What Was I Thinking

Something compelled me to volunteer to be a room parent for S. D.'s pre-k class. I was room mom when S. F. was little, and I guess I'm suffering from parental guilt over S. D.'s middle child status - soooo, I volunteered to be a room parent. Had S. D. remained our last child this would have been fine, but since Little G. is now 10 months old and suffering from recurrent ear infections and a major case of the mommies, this was not a wise decision on my part.

While everyone else was sleeping last night, I was up re-ironing panels for her class auction gift, a quilt featuring photos of the pre-k-er's on one side and original art work on the other, because while Shannon was "looking" at them, she peeled the stabilizing freezer paper from the back of the fabric. This morning I went into her classroom to take photos of the children and help them with their art work. Of course the baby decided that he was in no mood to cooperate, so once the photos were taken, I had to skulk out hoping no teachers would string me up for interrupting their classes with infantile, blood-curdling screams get out of there quickly. Tomorrow I go back for the little ones to create their masterpieces. Hopefully, Little G. will cooperate tomorrow.

Next year, if I feel compelled to volunteer again, I think I'll make an appointment with a therapist instead.