In the midst of the post-election spew-fest that is nearly impossible to ignore, I was abruptly reminded of the huge importance of calmly talking with our young children about this election aftermath, in particular. As I was chatting with our Utah son about the results, he told me to never mind his disappointment, he was concentrating on talking his own girls (ages 13 and 9) down off the ledge. "Dad, he hates women!" "Dad, he's going to drop bombs on people!" Because Jim and I, despite our bumbling about, somehow managed to raise two good, decent men who are fabulous fathers, Jamie gave his girls a quick Civics lesson (so proud!) about checks and balances, Congress, etc. Apparently middle schools are still a hotbed of political conversation -- remember Khrushchev's bellowing outbursts in the very early 1960's? Had us all petrified to be out on the playground, fearing we'd be buried by a bomb blast.
I suppose it's silly to believe we should be able to shield our kids from all of the hate in this beautiful world, but I can't help feeling embarrassed, I guess, when smart, caring and unbiased kids are subjected to the behavior of adults at their worst. --cds
