Sunday, November 2, 2008

If Only They Were of Age...

My children have become obsessed with the election.

I'm not kidding. They know when the candidates are on t.v. and know their names. *A* talks about them on a regular basis. We aren't crazy-political people, but we are excited about this election and I guess my super-observant daughter has picked up on some things. I suppose I should be non-partisan with my children and not encourgage one side or another but I really didn't think I was going to have to do that this early in their lives.
Even (H) who is new to this talking thing tries to have conversations about him. This was what happened tonight while sitting on the couch flipping though the channels with him...
As I pass a channel with football:
(H): "putball"
Then I pass a channel with 2 men talking:
(H): "guys"
A commercial for Chili's:
(H): "samwich"
Next we breeze by a car race:
(H): "cars"
I'm flipping quickly now because we're into the news channels and we pass MSNBC:
(H): "Obama"
So I flip back real quick and there's Obama getting off a plane. I affirm his knowledge and then keep changing channels. Then (H) says "Obama" again and starts waving (because what do politicians do when they get off planes? They wave.) Finally, he says "Obama, outside". Yes, he was. Should a 21 month old be this concerned about an election?

What about a 3 and a half year old?
The other day she randomly walked in the room and asked: "Mommy, is Barack Obama our hero?" I know she doesn't quite understand the role of a president, so this was her best guess. If only we could all be so optimistic and full of hope.

All this to say, go vote. If not for your own sake, for my children's sake who's political views have to wait another 15+ years to be counted.

3 comments:

Unknown said...

WOO HOO for involving children in our important daily grown-up things. Cole knows all the candidates from the political signs everywhere. We don't have TV, so he doesn't see them - but there is a Dan Morgan for DA billboard, and we're good friends with Dan and everytime we pass it he shouts "DAN MORGAN FOR DA!!!" Love it. (We also got a really good library book called Election Day that was all about how important it is, etc. I brought home a sample ballot from the voting office for them to "vote" on.)

Anonymous said...

And if you want to vote for your children's sake... Vote because Starbucks will give you free coffee if you vote...

Our Side of the Mountain said...

Liam: Wow, free Starbucks, if only we had one less than 45 minutes away...so sad. Thanks for commenting!

Dyno Mama: Thanks for the book recommendation! I so wish I could bring my kiddos with me to vote tomorrow so they can see it at work, but I had to do absentee. Hope your little ones have let you sleep better. Miss you!