Events that happen in everyday life present us with opportunities to teach our children about the world.
The recent election provided many teachable moments to get our children interested in politics, history, geography, world events and civil rights. I'm always amazed at what little sponges they are, soaking up what they hear and see and repeating back what they've learned.
At several area schools, mock elections were held allowing students to cast their votes. It's always interesting to hear the reasons youngsters select the candidates they do. One of my boys said they picked their candidate because they saw a commercial saying that the other would cut Medicare. Another thought that their candidate would do more for education.
A friend of mine, who is white and married to a black man, spent time with her children learning more about Obama's background and showing them the possibilities for multiracial individuals.
I don't watch much television, but when Grandpa baby-sits, he often tunes in to CNN or MSNBC, and his influence was evident when my 3-year-old one day pointed to a newspaper and told me it was a picture of Barack Obama and that he was going to be the next president.
Another day as I was flipping through the channels to find cartoons, he stopped me as a broadcast of a John McCain rally was being televised. When the audience clapped, he told me to clap. When the people stood, he told me to stand. When it was over, he told me, "I like to watch Barack Obama and John McCain."
In the days leading up to the election, we watched a little more television. We watched interviews, press conferences, rallies and biographies of the candidates. My 3-year-old asked questions about who other people were in the videos and why they were doing what they were doing.
While I tried to generate a little interest from my older kids, it was my youngest who was fascinated by everything having to do with the election. On election night, my 3-year-old, suffering from a bout of stomach flu, was curled up on the sofa, glued to the television. He guarded the remote, denying requests from his brothers to switch to Nickelodeon or play a game on the Wii. He drifted off to sleep just before Obama was declared the winner.
Three of his brothers were off to bed early, but knowing the significance of the evening, I invited my oldest to stay up and watch his speech with me, a small consolation for not taking him to see Obama in person in Highland the week before. I'm sure it's something that he'll remember for years to come.
The opinions expressed are solely those of the writer. Carrie Steinweg, the mother of five, lives in Lansing. Her column alternates with that of Schererville mom Rebecca Bailey. She can be reached at csteinw@yahoo.com.
