Election Day

I don't really talk politics with my kids.  I don't really talk politics with anyone for that matter.

I will talk about why we have elections, answer any questions they have, but as far as personal feelings, etc. I keep quiet.

I feel like they need to make their own decisions, there are so many kids out there who parrot what their parents are saying and don't really get why they are saying it. 

My son has been asking a lot of questions this year.  A lot of questions I don't have the answers to , so we have tried to look up answers as best we can.  It can be hard to find the true answers when there seems to be 2 sides to every story.

He was happy to see his own school hold a mock election, he was very surprised that when one candidate for senate won, a lot of his classmates were upset.  He didn't see how the other candidate could have won if so many people were upset.  He then said, "Oh maybe just the people that were loud were upset."  He's pretty smart, that kid.

Yesterday, my daughter's school also had a mock election.  She came home and told me all about it.  It was so hard for me to keep a straight face while she told me about the conversations her and her friends had about the candidates.

She told me that a group of her friends said that if one candidate won, he would tear down all the schools.  So I followed up with, "So, I guess they all voted for the other guy."  "No." She said.  "They voted for him so we wouldn't have to go to school anymore!"

Another friend told her that a candidate would raise taxes.  My daughter asked me what taxes were and were they bad.  I tried to explain as much as I could to an 8 year old what taxes were.  She didn't seem to think this affected her life and moved on.

She was very excited to learn about the candidates in her Scholastic News.  She is excited to see who wins.

 I will the kids with me today when I vote so that they can be a part of all the excitement. 

I am the first to admit that I don't have a passion for politics, but I won't let that sway my kids from having an interest in it or just appreciating the rights we have as Americans.