Florida Chick Gets Political

So...I have a presidential candidate sign in my yard...and it's not even the candidate I'm voting for. Seriously, what happens to people during an election year? We turn completely crazy and yell at the people we love...and call them idiots because they don't agree with our political views...or is that just my family? Honestly, the only politically sane person that I know at the moment is my husband who rolls his eyes and shrugs regardless of the candidate being talked about...at this moment I still don't know who he's voting for...I think he secretly likes them both.

Not so my daughter...yes, she'll be nine in a month...but she has very strong political views. Don't most kids tend to adopt their parent's political views? Doesn't every little girl want to be just like her mom? What happened in my home? Where did I go wrong? How did I end up with a child that brings home a yard sign for the candidate she knows I'm voting against and top it all off with(seriously, this almost stopped my heart) "and I also don't believe in Global Warming." You don't believe in Global Warming??? Whose child is this? I mean, she practically grew up inside a recycling bin...what's wrong with her?

I guess this is what politics is all about, right? It's democracy at it's best. It's giving each and every one of us (whether 32 or 8 years old) the chance to share our voice and let our opinion be heard. It's the chance to stand up and say "let's fix the economy, save our schools, and for goodness sake - let's recycle people!" It's also the chance to say "I don't believe in Global Warming" and stand secure in the knowledge that in this great country you have the right to believe it (even if your mother says you're wrong.)

More than that, it's the opportunity for us to love each other through our differences. To recognize that we really all want the same thing, even if we have different ideas about how to get there. And finally, it's an opportunity to teach our kids that they have the right to voice their opinions, to tell us when they think we're wrong, and to step up and try to change the world...and if all it takes on my part is letting the most independent, strong-willed eight year old in the country put a yard sign up - even though I cringe every time I see it - I'm glad to do it...and maybe one day, when she's the President of the United States, she'll finally see that I was right all along...or maybe not.

Lots of Love from a ready-for-election-day Florida Chick!