Four years ago, when my daughter was 2 1/2, we had John Kerry and Jim Francesconi signs in our yard. She became a little obsessed with these signs and the men they endorsed and started identifying every sign she saw (and I never realized how many political yard signs there were until I started hearing them called out every five seconds). By Halloween she was virulently anti-Bush, and our trick-or-treating excursion was punctuated by howls of despair anytime we passed a pro-Bush sign. Huh. I can't imagine where she would have picked up on any anti-Bush sentiment.
My parents never discussed politics when we were growing up. My mom came from an ultra-conservative family, and God help you if you ever mentioned the K word in front of my grandfather. (K for Kennedy, which was really hard since I was so in love with JFK, Jr.) My dad once quietly confessed that he'd voted for Jimmy Carter in the Carter - Reagan election, but aside from that I don't remember being influenced one way or the other. Flash forward, and here are my husband and I answering questions from a 6-year old about why we favor Obama over Clinton, only to hear her adapt the same beliefs for herself. I guess she's paying attention when he and I discuss the latest election news over the morning paper (while surreptitiously performing the Vulcan mind-meld on our burgeoning Democrats, er, conscientious citizens). Is that so wrong?
I guess we just feel so strongly about this election that it is impossible NOT to talk about it, and we just happen to talk about it around the kids. It's such an exciting time (well, if you're a Democrat) and what a nail-biter! (Frankly, I think we'd be lucky to have either Clinton or Obama in the White House -- they are both excellent candidates -- but you gotta pick one.) Have your kids picked up on the election talk? Do they ask questions? Do you feel like you are molding future members of your political party? I mean, once they are old enough they will make up their own minds. But for now, it's kind of nice having a family unit on the same team (even though they might not entirely understand what the team stands for)!
One of my poudest moments as a mother was to hear my two and half year old look up at the tv and excitedly proclaim, "Obama," completely out of nowhere. My son and my Mom took a fieldtrip to the Obama headquarters and picked up lawn sign yesterday and surprised me with my new sign proudly displayed in the yard. I love to talk about politics, but in my family, we are steadfast democrats, so not too much debate goes on. It will be interesting to see which way my son goes, but I find it hard to believe that he would stray too far from our own values- but you never know.
Posted by: Erin L | 13 May 2008 at 06:01 PM