Memorial Day 2007

Each year our church has a Memorial Day picnic at a local park. It's always a fun event-the weather is usually great and there is always volleyball or a bocce ball game going on. We arrived at the park today with Teenage Son complaining about being bored since none of his friends had arrived yet. That let to mom being grumpy... All got better when my friend "L" arrived with her brood. We BBQ'd our meat and put out the spread (BTW, if you haven't tried Lays dill pickle flavored potato chips yet- I highly recommend them!) Then the kids all ran off to play while L and I chatted in the shade and watched the in-progress touch football game... It was only when it was time to head home, that the drama re-surfaced. Teenage Girl didn't want to go yet and Young Son was in the middle of a water balloon campaign. I did the "mom thing" and used Young Son's full name to call him back so that we could go. Unfortunately, I used the wrong middle name- I mistakenly used Teenage Son's middle name instead! Young Son was highly insulted- "Mom! You don't even know my own name?!" Which, of course, brought laughs from those around... Great, once again I exhibit why there's a "Frazz" in "Frazzmom"...

As much as I enjoy the annual picnic, I decided a few years ago that I wanted our kids to understand what Memorial Day is really about. I wanted them to understand what and who the holiday honors. So we began visiting our nearby cemetery each Memorial Day, leaving flowers at the Veteran's Memorial there. So after coming home from the picnic this afternoon, Teenage Daughter and Young Son rode their bikes with my husband, J, to the cemetery. They took a miniature rose bush to put in front of the Air Force memorial there, in honor of my father-in-law who was retired from the service (he passed away 10 years ago, and is buried in Sacramento). In addition, Teenage Daughter took an orange to leave at the memorial since her earliest memory of her grandfather is picking oranges with him in his back yard...