So, is there an election going on or something?
HA! insert comedy drum punchline sound here.
But really, there is obviously an election going on. You can’t get on the internet for five seconds without seeing 361 ads for different campaigns, old high school friends bashing one party or the other, or your aunt’s cousin’s girlfriend threatening to leave the country if “so and so” gets voted in.
Do I have an opinion?
Yup.
Do I feel strongly about certain topics?
Oh yes.
Am I going to post things to make others feel bad about their decisions?
Nope.
So being that TODAY is election day….
And we are here on a website for parents…
And there is going to be a “winner” of this race no matter what…
Let’s treat this election like we are teaching our children a valuable lesson.
Because we are.
Lessons for our kids
How we as mothers treat every situation is eventually going to shape our little people’s minds and make them into the grown person they will soon be.
So what would we tell our children to do if they were stressed out, thinking about an important issue, pushing for someone to win, and wondering how to express themselves?
We would teach our children KINDNESS.
We would teach them to respect EVERYONE’S opinions.
We would teach them to STAND UP for what they believe in but to also understand that we are all different and that is okay.
We would teach them about winning and losing and how to handle both.
We would teach them about UNDERSTANDING.
So if we would teach our children these things, why would we not practice them ourselves?
It isn’t a secret that things have been stressful, people have been very opinionated during this election and have been pretty vocal.
So I will tell you all what I told my children.
We stood in line for early voting. The kids asked some questions and then they asked the BIG one. Standing there in line, they asked in front of a ton of people who I was voting for. YIKES, kids, way to put mom on the spot. I almost didn’t tell them. I almost said it was personal and not something to ask someone.
I thought about my answer for a bit and then I had this “Well, why not” feeling. Why wouldn’t I tell my kids who I was voting for? Why do I care if anyone knows? Shouldn’t we all respect each other’s opinions and views? These candidates obviously are respected enough to get to where they are so why would I have any reason to silence my opinion?
And if I silence it to my children, then what am I teaching them? That it’s a secret? That people shouldn’t know?
So I looked around, I knelt down to my kids level and I told them who I was voting for. And as kids would do they just said, “Oh, okay.” Which again is another reminder that we should be more like our children. They didn’t care who I voted for. They knew I was their mom and a good person regardless of which party I was about to cast my vote for.
“Women did not always have the right to vote. There was a time when a mommy couldn’t vote for who she wanted. So mom takes this voting seriously.” I don’t take this vote for granted. I know that 100 years ago, women fought for this very right so I stand in this line with my own little girl, proud, that we live in a country where everyone has this right to vote.
“Everyone votes for different people for different reasons and that is okay.” Honestly, I can just hear my kids saying “Well, my mom voted for ______.” I wanted them to know that it is OK to have a different opinion than someone else. All opinions matter. And every person is entitled to that and we love everyone just the same.
So as we go through this election, which I am sure won’t be over in just a day, I hope that we as moms and women and humans truly can live like we would teach our children to. Take a breath, treat others with kindness, and respect everyone.
The fact that we are all here, as women, and moms and a part of this great country where we have this right to vote is pretty darn amazing and something to be thankful for.
Happy Voting, my friends!
Yay for the USA!
