8 Ways to Observe Memorial Day as a Family

Memorial Day for most of us is the start of the summer – the long weekend is about grilling, going to the pool and gearing up for summer. But the real significance of Memorial Day is to honor those who served and died for our great country.

It started as Decoration Day (what my grandmother always called it), the last Monday in May, to honor the Civil War dead. After World War I, it changed to honor anyone who perished in the line of duty.

Myrna Blyth and Chriss Winston , authors of “How to Raise an American, 1776 Fun and Easy Tools, Tips & Activities to Help Your Child Love This Country,” offer the following 8 easy ways your family can observe this holiday. These appear in their section about Memorial Day starting on page 157.

• Visit a war memorial or veterans’ cemetery in your area.
• Check with your local American Legion or Veterans of Foreign Wars posts for special observances or ceremonies going on in your town.
• Take small gifts such as flowers, cookies or books to the local veterans’ hospital to say thank you for their service.
• Watch a tv show or DVD about our military or a famous war or battle. They are playing all kinds of shows like that on History Channel and the Military Channel this weekend.
• Watch a movie together (depending on your children’s ages) such as Saving Private Ryan, Patton, The Patriot, or Black Hawk Down. Since they are about war, these tend toward violence so be prepared.
• For younger kids, you can have them do a craft such as designing a poster or a postage stamp in honor of our soldiers. You can also find the flags for each branch of the military at www.enchantedlearning.com/usa/flags.
• Support our troops who are currently serving by sending a care package or a letter. You can adopt a soldier through an organization they suggest called Soldier’s Angels (www.soldiersangels.org) and send them monthly correspondence or goodies.

These are great tips for this special day. At the end of their section about Memorial Day, they have what they call at Dinner Table Debate; this one is about dying for your country and how to answer that question from your child. Here’s what they say about what we can do to honor those who were brave enough to die for us:

“…we honor the fallen of the past by living responsibly and being grateful that there are men and women willing to make the greatest sacrifice to protect us and our freedoms.”

Whoa, while I wrote this, two fighter jets just passed over – just a little reminder of the greatness of our nation. Please remember this today.

About the authors: Blyth is the author of “Spin Sisters: How the Women of the Media Sell Unhappiness – and Liberalism – to the Women of America.” She lives in New York City. Winston was the first female head of the White House Office of Speechwriting for President George H.W. Bush. She lives in Washington, D.C.

Please consider buying a copy of this book – it is an amazing guide to helping people instill patriotism in our children. Find it at http://www.howtoraiseanamerican.com/.

Marijo Tinlin is the Editor in Chief of Family First, one of the oldest family-oriented websites on the internet. She is also the author of a book about patriotism and teaching our children to love this country called “How to Raise an American Patriot, Making it Okay for Our Kids to Be Proud to Be American.”  It features 13 interviews with patriotic Americans including Ed Meese, Erick Erickson and Jackie Gingrich Cushman. It’s available at www.raisinganamericanpatriot.com.