The Presidential election is upon us.
I decided to vote early this year, and I took my boys with me. Fortunately, we got lucky, and the line wasn’t too terribly long. That meant the wait, with two young boys in tow, shouldn’t be too bad.
Here is what our experience was like…
“Okay, boys, this is one of those times where I am okay with you watching videos on my phone. Here you go.”
We all wore our masks, and the line had been marked so everyone had to stand six feet apart. The line was moving.
“Mommy, why are we waiting in line? Is this a doctor’s office,” asks my first grader.
“Are we going to get a shot?!” asks my three-year-old with wide eyes, and his hands on his cheeks.
“Absolutely not!” I tell him. “We are waiting in line so I can vote.” I say.
“Vote. What’s a vote,” asks my first grader.
“Well, you know how at school you have been learning about leaders? Like your teacher is the leader of your classroom. I am voting specifically for the leader of our country. The President is the leader of our country, the United States of America.”
As I tell him this, I can see the wheels in his head spinning.
“It’s important for me to vote for one candidate or the other. This is called an election and one of them will become the president. So we have to wait patiently. I will cast my vote and then we can go. So, thank you for being patient because it is important for Americans to vote. One day you will get to vote too,” I inform them.
“Ohhhhhh, when I’m 15 I can vote?” (He thinks he can do anything he wants when he is 15 for some reason)
“Not quite but not long after,” I tell him. (First graders are a trip. I love this age.)
“So everyone has to vote?” he asks.
“Not everyone has to, but if you want your opinion to count and your voice to matter, you definitely need to.”
“Oh, I got lots of opinions.”
“Yes, you do buddy, yes you do!”
We were getting close then, and the wait was almost over. The boys were doing great…
“Mommy, what are we doing after this?” (We literally just left the playground that we spent 1.5 hours playing on. Where do you think we are going?!)
“Probably just going home buddy.”
“Awww man.”
It was almost time to show my drivers license; I was in the home stretch. I play the card I have been waiting to play.
“How about if y’all let me vote and are nice and quiet and patient, and then I will take you to get a snow cone on the way home?”
Big smiles ensue.
“Okay,” they say.
I show my license, and am handed my ballot and my document, which I make sure is correct. I sign quickly before I go to a voting booth. A booth becomes available and someone directs me to the open booth.
“Okay, boys both of you sit right here in front of the booth quietly for just a few minutes, then it’s snow cone time. Y’all are doing great!”
“Okay Mommy.” (Who are these kids?)
A man gives me the quick low down on what to do with the electronic system, and it’s time to VOTE! I carefully make my decisions, activating the buttons with a cotton swab they supplied. A few short minutes later I am done.
“Time to go boys!”
I place my ballot in the machine on the way out and a nice lady gives us all a sticker.
“We did it! Thank you boys so much for letting me vote. You were both very patient. Let’s go get a snow cone. But first let’s get a picture of us with our stickers!”
This year has given us a lot of interesting, controversial, frightening circumstances. However, because of that it has also provided unique opportunities to teach our children.
Being able to vote in person gave me a chance to plant a seed in my child’s mind about voting, and why it is important. Let’s be real, I don’t think that seed was planted in my three-year-old’s mind quite yet, but definitely in my impressionable six year old.
Maybe, just maybe, when he is old enough to vote he will remember the times he went with his parents, and the importance of why he should.
