As the July 4th celebration weekend approaches, I am reminded of a time when Brandon was 4 years old and how our conversations in the car opened my eyes to his innocent perspective on life. I had picked him up from preschool that day and inquired, as usual, about what he had learned in school. His response was, “the pledge of allegiance.” I glanced into the rearview mirror, only to discover that he was knuckle deep in his nose…digging for gold perhaps, or “pointing to my brain” as he would say (it was a daily struggle between us to break this disgusting habit). So I was like, “Brandon! Get that finger out of your nose!” and he was like, “How’d YOU know where my finger was?” I told him that it doesn’t matter whether I can see him or not. He shouldn’t do things behind my back because God was watching and eventually he would reveal the truth to me. So Brandon is all, “Well I already KNEW that. We learned about it at school today.” And I was like, “About what?” and he says, “About how God is EVERYWHERE an you can’t hide from him.” So I was like, “But I thought you learned the pledge of allegiance today.” And he says, “We DID. It’s a story about God AND about the country.” So I was all, “What in the WORLD are you talking about?”
Frustrated with my ignorance, Brandon moaned through a deep sigh and says, “It goes like THIS, mom.”
Brandon: “I pledge allegiance, to da flag, United States of America. An to da republic, whichistans, one nation, under God, INVISIBLE, wif liberty an justice furall! See? He’s everywhere, we jus can’t see him cuz he’s invisible.”
Me: “Well if you knew that, then why were you picking your boogs?”
Brandon: “I didn’t think he would tell on me this time.”
