By Bridget Riepl 
I woke up this morning with two choices.
1. Who do I vote for?
2. Do I bring my kids with me to do it?
The first one I had decided a pretty long time ago, to be honest. Like most Americans, I did NOT need the last 200 days of mudslinging to make my decision.
Of course that didn’t stop me from watching the debates, following the polls and devouring information about the election from all media streams, including talk radio every time we hopped into the car. And since I am a mostly-at-home momma, my 4 year old twins are now incredibly well versed in the major issues of this election. They have asked me questions like “Where would a WALL go?” “Did you get any of those EMAILS?” and even “Could YOU be on the Supreme Court?” Notably my answers to all those questions were some version of “NO.” 🙂
Sadie and Patrick know Hilary, Trump, Bill, Donald Jr., the Obama family and even Barron Trump (they want to know if “that kid is running for President?”)
I think they even know Joe Scarborough on MSNBC, but only because he is mommy’s favorite.
As my husband Joe left for work this morning he asked “are you bringing them to vote?”
I smiled, thinking about Sadie and Patrick’s pretty incredible election absorption level. No, they aren’t experts on Aleppo, but my kids are invested in who becomes the president tomorrow. They care. And caring is exactly what we need the next generation to do.
So why not have them start NOW?
Plus if you had to display a basic knowledge of the issues before casting your ballot, Sadie and Patrick would have a decent chance of getting into a booth on their own.
So don’t they deserve to experience the process?
Joe totally agreed. All he asked was that I send a picture of their stickers.
We showed up at the polling place at 7:30 AM. Patrick jumped out of the car, wearing his new “I’m voting for PIZZA” shirt proudly; Sadie sat for an extra moment as I buttoned up her jean jacket over a still wet jelly stain on her red, white and blue dress. I told her not to worry because she would soon have an “I VOTED” sticker to cover it right up. She smiled and climbed into my arms.
Apparently princesses don’t walk to the polls.
As we walked up to the glass doors, two older men waved and told us to vote for Oscar. Patrick looked him dead in the eye and said “He’s not on the ballot.”
Yes, it was the right call to bring these two. They know their stuff! And as Sadie said when I finally dropped her off at school 20 minutes late: “we love the smell of democracy in the morning.”
I can only assume my husband taught her that, right?
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