Tuesday, November 8, 2016

In the Eyes of the Youth...

Today is the day that MANY of us have been waiting for for what seems like a lifetime!  Wether it's the constant banter on social media, the news, commercials and even at parties where you try to escape the all the negativity, it never seemed to go away.  Lets face it, this has been one ugly election.  But today I am so glad that I took the time to vote because for me, I think about all the people who paved the road for not only me but my beautiful daughter to have the right to vote for whomever we see fit... even if I may not agree with who she may be voting for ;)  

As parents we must show our children that we care about this country and that it is our responsibility as citizens to show up and do our part.  No one is allowed to bitch and complain if they do not vote so you might as well cast yours.




This morning as I was going through the propositions, I felt like a college kid cramming in an exam right before the test.  There were too many pages, I think it was something like 200 pages but not just that, there was all of the junk mail to go through as well, UGH!!!  I actually looked at the pile that I had been dreading for so long and said no way!!!!  So I googled the internet for something that would break it down for me and low and behold, I found an awesome website https://calmatters.org/elections/ ) that went over each proposition!!!  Whoop, whoop!!!  It goes through the pros and cons of each Prop., who supports it, who opposes it and how much each side has paid (top donors), etc. it made it super easy for me to read through and that's just what I did!!!  But as I was sitting at the breakfast table my 12 year old son was asking me questions about the propositions so I thought what a great opportunity to go over them with him.  Now, that did include Prop. 60 and if you live in CA you know exactly what that means.  For those of you who don't know what it means, well lets just say that living in CA we may soon have the right to be online and video condom cops to porn stars.  Yah, you heard that right... only in CA!!!!

Ok, well besides that crazy Prop. 60 my son had so many good view points on the different propositions.  Like Proposition 62 and 66 which dealt with the Death Penalty.  He had already discussed this at school and had a very strong opinion about this which I found very intriguing.  His opinions were not that of mine but I took the moment to have a real discussion with him about it.  It didn't change my view point but it did open my eyes a little more about it.  The point is, have these discussions with your children (at age appropriate times of course) but this will show them the importance of why we vote and why it matters.

Today for me, was a very special day. I used it to take my daughter to the polls for her very first chance to vote for a Presidential candidate.  For years now Adam and I have known her stance on most subjects and it's caused heated conversations at times.  But never for a moment did I not want her to express her right to vote.  I want both of my children to grow up to be responsible humans that want to do better for the world and for that I am blessed.



So for today, no matter the outcome I look at it as a positive experience to show my children what it truly is like to be a proud American and I hope you can use this as a teachable moment for your children as well.  So much hate going around right now that if we would just stand in their shoes for just a moment, maybe we would be a little different.
xoxo,
CJ

No comments:

Post a Comment