This is just one of many memes my children have copied to my computer desktop that reference Donald or his hair.
Unless you have been living under a rock, you know that it’s election time. Normally I love tuning in to debates, researching candidates and brushing up on current issues, but this one has been a doozy.
I feel like it has been more entertaining than educational. I’ve had a hard time taking it seriously – mostly because I’ve chosen to laugh instead of cry.
Through all of the shenanigans, the ups and downs, the last-minute surprises, I have kept a watchful eye on my children. There have been numerous teaching moments during this campaign. We’ve had many conversations on ethics, respect, acceptance, appropriateness and honesty. I think we could all stand to learn something from looking at the candidates through a child’s eyes.
But despite the heavy stuff, there have also been some really funny moments during this campaign.
I can’t tell you how many times my kids have asked me about Hillary’s emails and you wouldn’t believe how many strange aquatic creatures look like Donald Trump or his hair.
I wish you could have heard my 2-year-old the night she impersonated Trump. And my boys’ “Bernie,” chants keep ringing in my ears.
We’ve laughed at Saturday Night Live skits together and we’ve joked about building a border-control wall in our own back yard. (For a while we were kind of serious about this.)
Good or bad, funny or serious, my kids have been listening and watching. We’ve learned a lot about the candidates and we’ve felt nervous about the future of this country.
My oldest two have picked up on the disgust resonating with voters.
They know that things are bad.
But they have hope. Hope that things could get better.
It’s this hope that keeps me from stressing out about who is going to win and what their first actions in office will be. Their hope instills in me peace because I know that they are the future. They can make a difference someday.
And hopefully they will.
The current election has increased my 8-year-old’s aspirations for his own presidential run someday. (He already has his cousins convinced that he is the Clemens running for congress in Utah. You should have seen their amazement when they were sitting together and an anti-Rob Bishop ad came on. How did he do that? lol.)
He is determined to change the world. He’s started mapping out his career and moving to California to become governor there is at the top of his list.
So I guess if I have gotten nothing positive out of this grueling and tiresome election at least my children have.
Hopefully that means we will have better candidate options in 2044.
Boogers on the Wall 