Election thoughts from my 10yo

So today is election day...

Sad to say, I'm most happy that the phone calls are finally ending. Honestly, I've been miserable this whole election. The ads have made me sick. The phone calls didn't just border on being obnoxious, they were obnoxious. I wanted to be able to vote no on everything and everyone.

But I didn't. Well, okay, I did. I voted no on everything I could possibly vote no on. And the rest of the choices... ended up being the lesser of two evils. I hate that our country comes down to these kinds of choices. I have to remind myself that we should be grateful for the fact that we have a choice. So many people in this world don't get one.

On the way home from church, the kids asked who we voted for. We told them that we voted for Pedro. I want the kids to grow up learning how to determine the best candidates, not just taking someone's word for it. Our 10yo made the comment that she didn't like any of them because of how mean they were on TV. She started picking apart one ad in particular and how they took a person's quote out of context.

I asked her who she would have voted for, and she said that she didn't know. Since she hadn't taken the time to research the candidates or issues, so she couldn't make a decision. All she knew was that the ads were lies and that people needed to do better research to decide.

Can I reiterate that my daughter just turned ten?

I can't tell you how proud I am of her- she understands something that most voters in America fail to grasp. She understands what an important task we have in choosing who and what to vote for. She knows that the ads only tell a fraction of the truth. And, she knows that she has an obligation as a citizen of this country to do that work.

I'm so glad our country's future is in her hands.

And I hope that when you talk with your children about elections, it's not just about Democrats, Republicans, issues, and what they should vote. But talk to them about WHY they vote, and that you have to dig deeper to find the truth.