Back to School with Obama

September 8th, 2009

The early days of the back-to-school season are typically full of anxious parents, crying kindergartners, and school buses that can’t seem to keep to a schedule. Today was not much different – but as I waited an extra 15 minutes for my second grader’s bus to arrive, I wondered if my son had seen President Obama’s address to the nation’s school children.  I wasn’t expecting so – I’d called the school office and was told that viewing varied by classroom.

schoolbusphoto

But when he finally stepped off the bus and I asked him if he had watched the President’s speech, he surprised me by saying “Yes.”

“And?,”  I asked excitedly. “What did you think?”

“Boring.”

“Boring!”

“Boring. What’s for snack?”

“Hold on there a minute,” I said. “I read his speech. He talked about taking responsibility, he talked about working hard, he talked about all those things that Mom and Dad talk to you about, didn’t he?”

“No.”

“Well, what did he talk about?,”  I feigned.

“I don’t remember.”

I let the poor kid have his snack and gave him a ten minute rest before I started interrogating him again.

“Did your teachers talk to you about his speech after it was over?”

“No.”

“No!”

“Did you understand his speech?”

“No, not really.”

Let’s hope the speech went over better with the 7th graders and the 17-year-olds than with the 7-year-olds.    I read the speech and was really impressed.  It was a simple message about taking responsibility for one’s actions and working hard. You can read the text here.

What did you think? And more importantly, how did the children you know react to the speech?

— Lynn

Copyright 2009 OrganicMania