Everyday I try to teach my children how to be a better person than I am. I try to teach them to leave it cleaner than you found it, and lend a hand whenever a hand is needed. I try to teach them to do good simply for the sake of doing good. I try to teach them that one person can make a difference one kind act at a time. Most of the time you think they're not getting it, but then there's that one unforced act of goodness! You can't help but beam with pride when you see it. It might be the time your child stands up to a bully who's picking on another kid, it may be when they break their cookie in half and share it with a lonely child, sometimes it's when they invite the kid in the corner to come over and play with the group. It could be when they pick up the litter in the park while we're walking, or simply being polite and conversational- no matter how uncomfortable they are - when the old crazy people in the grocery store are talking to them. It's these little things I see in action everyday that make me so proud of my kids.
Of all the things we try to instill in our children, tolerance and respect are two of the most important things on the list. Throughout the past few months, my kids have been surrounded by the election mess. My son is 5 and very aware of, well everything (except whe I'm calling his name...). He sees what's going on around him and asks questions to help fully understand it. My husband, being the political junkie in our house, has been answering these questions - mostly at night when I'm at work. I know he knows who Barack Obama and John McCain are. He knows that we all go vote for a new person to be the President every four years to be our boss. He watches the Daily Show more than I do - I'm not sure if this is a good thing or a bad thing, but I'm willing to let it ride for now.
This morning my son, Coen, woke up and crawled into bed with me as he does every morning. The first thing he said was, "Who won the election?" When I told him Barack Obama had won he pumped his little fists and gave out a little "woohoo!" I just smiled. He then continued, "I'm glad McCain didn't win, because if he did he would come and take all of our toys away!" I just looked at him and asked him to repeat himself to be sure that is what I heard. It was. At that point I decided to sit and have a conversation about the elections and the candidates with him myself - Daddy was fired!
I told him that John McCain would not come and take his toys. I told him that Mr.McCain is a good man with a lot of good ideas. He loves our country and only wants to help us. I told him that he was a soldier a long time ago and helped a lot of people. I told him about how the bad guys in the war had caught him and hurt him, but he was very brave and strong. I told him that even though Mr. McCain was a very good man, Mommy and Daddy didn't vote for him because we didn't think we liked the way he would run our country. I told my son that he says things to people that scare them and make them angry. He might not mean to do it, but he does. I told him that Mr. Obama was a very nice man too with a lot of good ideas, but that he inspired people and brought positive reactions to people. We voted for Mr. Obama because we wanted to make a positive change in our world.
It was a really cool conversation - simply because we were having it. My parents taught me a lot of things to be proud of- things that left me a better person than them - and my parents were pretty amazing (mom still is!). This was never one of those conversations I had with my parents. I couldn't tell you anything about politics, voting or anything of the sort as a child. As an adult, I have to say that this was a really exciting election to be a part of. I only hope that they can all be like this. It really seemed almost like a national holiday or something. People were excited to go vote - and that excited me! I do hope it's a trend that doesn't fade. We stood in line at the polls at 6:30 am, my husband and I, for 45 minutes. It was almost like a date. We talked to each other about all kinds of stuff. It was nice. What was also nice was that we felt like we were really going to make a difference with our votes. It was cool.
After talking to my son this morning, it just seemed even cooler. We were teaching our child how important it is to vote, how to respect those that you don't necessarily agree with, to tolerate difference, and what it is to be a leader. It's a lesson that I'm proud of.
My son has no idea how historic this presidential election has turned out to be. There's a reason for that, and a reason that I'm proud of. My son doesn't see Barack Obama as black or white. He sees Barack Obama on the TV and he just sees a man like any other man. "Black" is not in the vocabulary at our house. "African American" means nothing to my children. My children see men, women and children of all shapes, sizes and shades - and we're all God's children.
My son was very interested in this election. It could be because he wanted to share the interest with his father, or maybe just because he needs to understand everything going on around him. I don't know if he'll remember the events of Decision '08, but I hope he at least remembers snuggling in bed with Mommy the day after.
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