Peace on Earth

Raising two young boys in a world as volatile, at present, as ours is often times a frightening proposition. My ears are often filled with tales of good guys and bad guys battling violently to the death. I have read many parenting books that assure me these stories fall into the "normal and healthy" category for boys my sons' ages. (Nevertheless, it never fails to disturb me on an emotional level.)

Every now and again something will happen that will remind me that my boys know the difference (at least to some degree) between the reality of war vs. the romanticizing of war. Tonight I had one of those moments with William. At a cub scout pack meeting the scouts were asked to write a letter to a soldier serving in Iraq. I was a little nervous about what William would produce. He wrote a very lovely letter telling the soldier "Thank you for serving" and "Please come home safely". He did at one point ask if he could write "Sorry that President Bush even started this awful war." (Have I mentioned he is not a big fan of our current President.), but he decided to leave that part out.

He finished his letter and drew an illustration to decorate it. It started taking the form of a tank and I braced myself to see bullets coming out of the tank's gun and perhaps stick figures lying in it's wake. I let him keep going without interfering (as my feminine side was pushing me to do). Thank goodness I did. He finished the tank and drew a flower in the gun of the tank and an American flag with a peace symbol on it.

What a beautiful Christmas wish from my son to the world. Peace. I will do my best to not be too disturbed tomorrow when he once again fills my ears of tales of battles and brawling, knowing there is a little pacifist in there too.