A Little Knowledge Never Hurts
Back in October 2008 during the peak of the election season, our kids asked us who we were voting for. They each had been in an assembly that day in school to discuss the president, voting, and why it was important. We regularly spoke about who we liked and why, as well as who we didn’t like and why so they knew exactly where we stood.
Well, both kids came home one day with basically the same story - that Mr. Obama was the best candidate, and that everyone loved him and would vote for him if they were able. This confused our kids, as neither of their parents felt this way about such a wonderful guy. We sat them down and explained to them like this:
It’s Halloween time. You decide to maximize your candy collecting this year by walking up and down many of the streets in the neighborhood ahead of time. You figure out the best way to get to each house, how to approach them, and cross off ones with dangers like barking dogs to dark yards. You make maps of what streets to walk, how fast, and which ones aren’t worth visiting because there aren’t many houses on those streets or the people are just out of town. You spend a week figuring out what costume to wear in order to amaze your friends and make it entirely by hand. When the big night comes, you cannot be more prepared and it pays off - you wind up with a huge pile of candy of every type and color. At the end of the night, a man comes to the house and tells you that for every two pieces of candy you have he will take one and you have no choice. When you ask him why, he says that this candy will be going to all of those kids who didn’t feel like going out for Halloween - it was too cold, or too much walking… or they didn’t feel like making costumes. But they deserve to have candy as much as you and since you have plenty, the man has come to take their share.
At this point, both of my kids are wide-eyed and on the edge of tears. Why do lazy kids deserve to get their hard earned candy? My son even comments that if he was sick and could not go out for Halloween he would be sad, but wouldn’t expect candy to just show up… so why would anyone else? The next day they each share this story with their classmates, who all agreed that giving to anyone who doesn’t work hard is crazy and that if that is what Mr. Obama is planning, then they refuse to ever vote for him or anyone like him.
:)
Well, both kids came home one day with basically the same story - that Mr. Obama was the best candidate, and that everyone loved him and would vote for him if they were able. This confused our kids, as neither of their parents felt this way about such a wonderful guy. We sat them down and explained to them like this:
It’s Halloween time. You decide to maximize your candy collecting this year by walking up and down many of the streets in the neighborhood ahead of time. You figure out the best way to get to each house, how to approach them, and cross off ones with dangers like barking dogs to dark yards. You make maps of what streets to walk, how fast, and which ones aren’t worth visiting because there aren’t many houses on those streets or the people are just out of town. You spend a week figuring out what costume to wear in order to amaze your friends and make it entirely by hand. When the big night comes, you cannot be more prepared and it pays off - you wind up with a huge pile of candy of every type and color. At the end of the night, a man comes to the house and tells you that for every two pieces of candy you have he will take one and you have no choice. When you ask him why, he says that this candy will be going to all of those kids who didn’t feel like going out for Halloween - it was too cold, or too much walking… or they didn’t feel like making costumes. But they deserve to have candy as much as you and since you have plenty, the man has come to take their share.
At this point, both of my kids are wide-eyed and on the edge of tears. Why do lazy kids deserve to get their hard earned candy? My son even comments that if he was sick and could not go out for Halloween he would be sad, but wouldn’t expect candy to just show up… so why would anyone else? The next day they each share this story with their classmates, who all agreed that giving to anyone who doesn’t work hard is crazy and that if that is what Mr. Obama is planning, then they refuse to ever vote for him or anyone like him.
:)