Madeleine: "Religion is pretty much the biggest thing in the third grade right now. That, and the elections. Are you going to vote for Obama or McCain?
Mom; "I'm not sure yet."
Madeleine: "I'm leaning towards McCain. I think he's nice, and it seems like all Obama cares about is America.
Beth, with a sideways glance:"Well, doesn't he LIVE in America? And shouldn't you care about where you live? It's not like he's going to be President here and go live in some other country!"
Madeleine: "Yes, but you still have to want to help other people. You can't just care about yourself all the time."
And so a political debate ensued between our little Republican and our little Democrat. It cracked me up. Mary chimed in, asking, "What's Oba?" "Obama" Madeleine corrected, "Like a bomb, that explodes, O-bomb-a." That struck me as an hilarious pronunciation guide for his name. Mary liked the sound of it and started running around singing '"obAAAAAAma! obAAAAAma!"
Politics is rarely a prevalent topic of conversation in our house so I was surprised how much the kids thought about the elections and getting a new President. Madeleine's class had been reading Time For Kids, the school news version of Time magazine, and she was pretty concerned about foreign policy. On Nov. 4th, different grades at school voted within their own classes and graphed the results. Madeleine came home wearing a personally made "I Voted" sticker on her jumper and she wanted to stay up on the night of elections to see who won. We sent her to bed with the promise that we would wake her up as soon as we knew.
The next morning I asked her if she was disappointed that McCain lost. "Not really," she said. "I'm glad that he was so nice about losing. He was like, 'well, that's ok.' I think Obama will do a pretty good job - but I hope he doesn't just care about America and people. I wish he cared more about animals and forests too. . . " Besides that, the girl's only reaction to the election results was wanting to find out what kind of puppy is going to move into the White House.
Freedom is a pretty amazing thing. Hundreds of thousands fight to obtain and preserve it while those who inherit it hardly realize they have it. I'm sure my children don't know how fortunate they are to live where they can receive an education, where they are free to voice their political opinions, and where their parents and someday they can take part in an election. I'm not sure I fully appreciate our privileges myself, but I am thankful for them. I'm thankful for people like my grandfathers and my father who served in the military and helped to provide those privileges for me and my children. I'm thankful to know that come what may with health care, taxes, and the war on terror we are still part of a great nation with the potential to become greater. I'm proud that we have a who leader was chosen by the people through the democratic process. I hope that my children will learn to appreciate the privileges they have. I hope they'll feel indebted to those who serve our country. I hope they will grow up to be people who care about America.
3 comments:
Well said.
That is hilarious -- "All he cares about is America."
I love it. I'd be interested to know what they're learning about religion in 3rd grade.
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