Hubby and I choose to vote by mail. That way we have time to think about who and what we are voting for and don’t have to stand in line for hours.
I was in Florida when my ballot arrived in California so I had to hand-deliver it to a local polling place on election day.
Sarah and I took a short walk over to a nearby school that is always used as a polling place. After handing in my ballot, they gave me an “I Voted” sticker. Sarah wanted one, too, so I asked the election worker for one.
Here is my little monkey with her stickers. One day these little hands will vote too!
Sarah is too young to understand what it means to vote, but I thought the email I received entitled, “Election 2012: Answering Kids’ Questions” explained it well. I think the following are some smart ways to explain the process to older children.
“Why do you vote?” “Because the person who wins gets to make important decisions for our family and everyone in the U.S. If someone else got to say what time you go to bed, or what you eat for snack, you would want to pick that person, right?”
“What does the President do?” “The President is in charge of our country, just like I’m in charge of our home.”
“Why do all those TV commercials sound so mean?” “You know how sometimes you feel like knocking down someone else’s tower? Grown-ups get excited about which person will be the best president, so sometimes they knock the other candidate down, but that’s not the right thing to do.”
“Who gets to vote?” “Everyone in the country once they turn 18!”
