A collection of our girls' stories and how they continue to keep us young at heart, yet make us gray in doing so.

Monday, November 5, 2012

Learning Democracy the Night Before Election Day

This afternoon I was telling Hannah that tomorrow would be a special day because we get to go out and vote. She instantly dropped what she was doing and jumped up and down in excitement!
"Yay! I was hoping we could do that again before winter!"

Hmmm. Winter is a bit out there, but ... it's Hannah, so some comments are just like that. I was just thrilled she seemed to be so excited. Who knew?!
 
Hannah then asked if Daddy is going, too.
"Yes, Daddy gets to vote," I say. "But voting is only for adults. So I promise to vote for people I think will do the right thing for you in the future, but you and Adelaide don't actually get to vote until you're 18." 
The look on Hannah's face was as if she had just gotten smacked.

"But ... but ... why? Can we at least come with you?"

"Yes! I was hoping you would! You guys can come with me in the morning, and Daddy will probably go after work."

I was met with yet another look of disbelief.

"Umm. If we can't vote, why can you? I think only strong people should be able to go. Maybe we should ask Caleb to come with us if Daddy can't."

Now the look of disbelief jumped to my face. What?! Images of Women Suffragists rolling in their graves raced through my mind, coupled with pictures of riots from those around the world who sacrifice so much, yet are still denied the right to vote. I was speechless!

Thankfully, and as always, Hannah was not at a loss for words.
"You always say it takes two people to get it up on the van, and what if the cold wind makes you tired and we get stuck out on a lake?!" 

Oddly enough, that comment made perfect sense. Phew! It's those tricky letters "v" and "b." This whole time I had been talking about going to "vote," while Hannah had heard "boat." Few things compare to a boat ride in this house, and I'm pretty sure standing in a polling booth will fall terribly, terribly short!

So, after my heart stopped racing and the confusion was sorted out, I tried to explain what va-va-voting was. We used our rather dated daily schedule as an example of what the girls would vote for in regards to all of our activities tomorrow. From picking what's for snack to picking what we play throughout the day, they thought it was great fun putting a check mark by each of their votes.

While it's not going for a boat ride, maybe voting won't be a complete fail now! No surprise my votes of easy breakfasts and healthy dinners (not to mention taking a nap!) did not get the majority, but it looks to be a fun day anyway! Hannah then made it very clear that she did not vote to have salad for dinner tonight, and that we should consult this chart every day so the majority's voice is heard.

Whoever said democracy is always a good thing couldn't have been a mother! :)

Democracy at work

Happy voting tomorrow!