Election Day (aka The Nerd Superbowl)

In the days and weeks leading up to the elections, we talked often to Molly and Rebecca about the process and about the issues pertinent to this year's race. See my blog entry from February 12 to see how I tried to approach the issues for young children. We didn't talk much about African-Americans and women and how historic this year was in terms of the big picture. I focused on reasons why people choose to vote for a particular candidate and, for that matter, why people choose to vote at all. Molly learned in school about electoral votes, the two political parties (including their symbols--her favorite part), the voting process. I wanted to take them with me to vote but ultimately, I am glad I didn't--I voted early and waited in line for 2 hours. The excitement of seeing Mommy vote would have been significantly diminished by the tired, hungry, bored, annoyed feelings that occur after waiting in line when you're 4. I'm lucky to keep them entertained for 20 minutes at the grocery store.

Anyway, the girls knew I supported Barack Obama and they knew my reasons, at least some of them. They have beloved family members on both sides of the aisle, so we were very careful to explain that people make a choice based on what is important to them and that supporting a different candidate is fine as well. We talked about John McCain's service to our country as a soldier and as a Senator. I told them very sincerely that whoever won the election would be our next President and would therefore have my respect and support.

For election night--which we call the "Nerd Superbowl" in our house!--I printed out US maps, labeled with state names and numbers of electoral votes. We had a blue marker and a red marker. As the states were called, Molly colored in the state and made a list of electoral numbers in red and blue columns. By the time they went to bed, only a few states were colored in. I would have let them stay up, but it was a school night and they were both bouncing off the walls by 9:00--which is already past their bedtime.

When they awoke the next morning, Molly's very first question was "WHO WON?" I got a bit teary as I explained how historic this was, explaining in very simple terms what slavery was and about segregation (which they had encountered from watching "Hairspray," but that's another story!). Rebecca looked puzzled. She said she "hadn't even noticed" that Barack Obama's skin was a different color from John McCain's or from her own. This occured to me: With each new generation, we are pushing that prejudice and bigotry further into history, making it a laughable sidenote: "we did WHAT to each other!?" We--and the country--must be doing something right if our daughter didn't notice the color of someone's skin. Maybe it's possible that ALL babies will be born into a world where "you can do anything" is not just lip service. It's real and right in front of us. That is something you can't deny, no matter whom you voted for.