O Canada:
It was a bit surreal.
Cass and Rosey and I were heading out of town and Cass started to sing 'O Canada.'
He's six. And knew all the words.
This was odd on a few different levels. Coming from the States, where the schools aren't allowed to sing America The Beautiful anymore (God forbid we mention God) this was a real eye-opener. And neat. Heart-swelling, even.
They sing it every morning. In school, facing the flag. (I didn't ask if they saluted.)
I forget, sometimes, that my children are Canadian. That they don't have the memories and stranger-in-a-strange-land feelings that I do, that the American flag isn't a comforting, familiar sight to them. That my son doesn't automatically think of The Star Spangled Banner when asked to sing a song for his country.
Warthog:
Cass has a habit of echoing everything Bear says, even while not paying attention to the conversation. So,
B: Oh, my head hurts!
C: (In the other room and playing dinky cars) I have a headache!
B (exasperatedly) I have a big wart on my behind!
C: I have a....(pause) Daddy? Really? Can I see?
And one from work:
Correlation:
The amount of drug-seeking behavior is directly amplified by how young the doctor appears.
Idiots. The docs all know who you are already. And it doesn't help your cause if you miraculously stop hobbling and crouching over when you go around the corner to the parking-lot. They're young, not blind.
Or stupid.
Musically Declined:
And last of all, back this spring I was trying to figure out a song: here it is! The jingly-wah-wah sound still gets me.
okay, the video...is not exciting.
12 comments:
I love that Cass can sing O Canada...yay Cass!
Apparently my 5 yr old grandson knows all the words to American Pie. It is his older sister's favourite song!
My boys know all the words to both The Star Spangled Banner and Oh Canada. What can I say, we watch a lot of hockey in this house : )
Climber quite often gets around singing the Australian anthem. His school sings it every Monday at assembly. I find it very endearing, surprisingly.
cough cough (I was laughing so hard at the bit about Cass imitating Bear)
hmmm about the thought of your kids being Canadian. I know part of why I love Pittsburgh is that it seems so much like the America I read about, saw in movies as a girl, when I lived in farflung locales. (Hadn't thought about it that way until now, actually...I love writing!)
Okay, I am officially rockin' out to that song. But...what is it called? Can I download it is somewhere? Ha!
Wow, I never thought of how your children would be so culturally different from you, I guess it would be the same way my Mama feels about my sister and I. She is from the Philippines, and has only been in the state as long as I have been alive. We have never gone through the things she has gone through, or understand her culture to be "home" like she does. Kind of puts things in perspective.
Edit: I found out who they were...I had to decode the artist name...I found the album on iTunes! Whoo Hoo!
Album and Artist Name: The Bilz
The song you have up is the first on this album, I am actually going to buy it. I love the sound. I just can't figure out where they are from.
Please tell us he was joking about the wart...
-J.
I'm such a dumb American that it never even occured to me they don't sing the Star Spangled Banner in Canada too.
That's sweet that Cass can sing "O'Canada!" I remember the first time the GirlChild recited the "Pledge of Alligence," it made may heart ache.
I never knew that Canadians did that singing-to-the-flag thing that American children do in stories. Hmm. We British are so unpatriotic. Which may not be a bad thing, mind you, but then I'm British, so I would tend to think that... circular argument...
God is mentioned in the pledge of allegiance so I don't know how mentioning God would disallow America The Beautiful. I thought it wasn't sung because it wasn't the national anthem (even if it is a prettier song). Besides, if the entire Star Spangled Banner is sung, God is mentioned in the final verse.
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