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Our StoryEveryone keeps asking how I came up with the idea for this book. The answer is pretty simple. I went looking for something and couldn’t find it... When the anniversary of the September 11 attacks came around last year, my husband, Chris, and I were determined to try and escape the endless reincarnation of that day that was quickly approaching. We took our daughter, Caitlin, and headed down to South Carolina from our new home in Pennsylvania for a week at the beach. Since Chris worked in the Pentagon at the time of the attack and we lived nearby, we had experienced that day once before and were determined not to relive it again. But it’s true what they say-- you can run, but you can’t hide. As we drove to our destination, every radio and TV station in every town was reliving that day for us and the rest of the country. Ultimately I gave in a watched the Pentagon remembrance ceremony, and as I sat watching and playing with my daughter who was then 19 months old I decided that Chris and I should teach Caitlin the National Anthem. Despite the fact that we’ve heard and sung it MILLIONS of times between our Army careers and football game attendance throughout life, without the context and music playing of those situations, we were suddenly at a loss. As we stumbled over the words, debating about what came first, "perilous fight" or "ramparts we watched"? I started to realize one of the many great challenges of parenthood-- how do you teach your child patriotism? It’s pretty sad that by about 19 or 20 months old kids can probably recognize a Teletubby or McDonalds from 50 yards away, but most don’t even notice an American flag until they hit kindergarten.
As the day wore on, watching and reliving my own experiences and feelings of September 11, 2001, it became even more important to me that I figure out how to teach my child just what that day meant and how important is to be proud of the country we live in. In the weeks that followed I had no luck finding a “toddler friendly” medium (book, toy, whatever…) with which to carry out my noble parenting mission that had now become a great quest. While my husband listened and laughed at my tirades about how “someone should do a book” it soon became clear that I was about to be that someone. So with the help of a good friend, and a lot of advice from the people on the Booksjustbooks website, O Say Can You See … became the first in what hopefully will be a long and successful series dedicated to growing patriotism at an early age.
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