Tiny Texans

This is a confusing image for my child...

More on that momentarily.

A couple of weeks ago it was Tiny Texans day at school. (Why??)

All of the students were supposed to sport their western wear. We did the best we could. Fortunately, Mary was a cowgirl for Halloween, so we happily recycled her costume (although the "recycling" bit wasn't a very Texan thing to do). And we found some little cowboy boots in the garage for David. They belong to my brother Andy, and I remember his wearing them. It warmed my heart to see David clomping around in them.

Like I said, we did the best we could (with the outfits and the pictures)...

At school that day there was a real live pony and a photographer. Each child had the opportunity to sit astride the pony and have his or her picture taken. Mary refused (of course). But David happily complied. You do not see the picture here because I refused to buy one. They were, of course, expensive and ultra-posed (but not as hilarious as the school portraits). Also, I'm growing a bit weary with this Texas stuff.

All week long David and Mary came home with cowboy crafts coming out their ears. On the last day David came home with this book he had made...

It goes on...and on...and on...and on.......

I guess I should think it's cute.

I suppose it prepares the children to pledge allegiance to the Texas flag. (That was quite a shocker to my baby brother when my family moved here during his eighth grade year.)

I've really tried to have a good attitude about this whole living-in-Texas thing. I have tried to embrace the fun that comes with cowboy culture, suburban sprawl, and pointless pride.

But it's getting old.

Did my son really have to spend all week working on a 30-page book about Texas when he still can't draw a stick person or write his full name or count to 50? Did my son really have to spend all week memorizing the Texas state flower and the Texas state bird when I still can't convince him that WE LIVE IN AMERICA???

It's true. David doesn't believe that we live in America. His argument is that we live in TEXAS--NOT AMERICA. His proof is the 2 billion Texas flags flying around. (Very occasionally we'll see both an American flag and a Texan flag, to which he'll remark that it's odd to see an American flag since we're NOT in America.) When David speaks of our life in Ohio, he prefaces it with, "When we lived in America..." So when we lived in Ohio, we lived in America. But we don't live in America anymore because we live in Texas.

It would all be kind of cute and funny...except that it's not cute and funny, thanks to the not-un-serious talk of secession. With the Republican primary for governor coming up and the right, the super-right, and the super-weirdo-right battling it out, I can't help but be reminded of all the reasons I don't like Texas.

I hate to be a party pooper...but I'm not sure I want my kids to be Tiny Texans...or any kind of Texan.

(Help!! Someone remind me that Texas isn't all bad.)