A Fresh Start for Us All

Funny how just about everything you say comes back at you in one form or another when you have a 5-year old in the house. The elections this past Tuesday have been a big discussion item in our house over the past few days. The whole democratic process is something I hope my children come to appreciate. It would certainly seem to be case with Karsyn.

She picked up pretty quickly that voting for person means that you are essentially picking them. The office of the President is apparently a prominent post, even to a Kindergartner, so casting a vote for this office has been the highlight our family discussions. What’s amusing is the fact that the then current President, George W. Bush, was held in higher regard by Karsyn for the simple fact that he was the current President.

No influence from us on the matter. This was simply a decision that she made because GWB already held the office.

I’ll be honest. I make it no secret that my political views swing to the right. But in this case I played no part in influencing her decision. I suppose that if Sponge Bob Square Pants was the current President, he’d have a supporter in Karsyn.


The first woman president?
She also happened to mention that one of the gating factors in her decision to support the President is that she simply, “doesn’t like change.” This is a direct quote folks. It should be surprising that children find comfort in consistency, but basing an opinion on who should be President? That’s just darn right fantastic stuff! You can’t beat trying to understand the reasoning of a kid. Outstanding.

There is of course, no greater pleasure than exacting a bit of political badgering on friends and family. Having your kids doing it for you is pure entertainment. Karsyn recently queried a classmate’s mom on who she would be voting for. When Mrs. Holden politely replied that she would casting her vote for one John Kerry, Karsyn wrinkled her nose, retorted with a simple “Oh.”, then walked away in disgust.

She would later demand that her mother needed to get to the “voting place” and cast a vote for President Bush because Emily’s mom had cast a vote for Kerry, and she needed to offset that dastardly deed.

Grandma Wuttke has also raised the ire of our aspiring political strategist. She was interested in Grandma’s choice, but has been affectionately chiding Grandma ever since she discovered that the family matriarch leans to the left.

Not only does Grandma have her husband, daughter and son-in-law maligning her for her god given right to choose the wrong person for President, but now she also has her precious granddaughter mounting an offensive (as only a five year-old could do)


Those dudes are cool! I think I'll vote.
In a show of true bi-partisan badgering, we’re busy prepping Karsyn for a show down with her slightly liberal Uncle Thomas this Thanksgiving.

“Can you please pass the turkey Uncle Thomas? Speaking of turkeys, your boy Kerry sure got the stuffing beat out of him, huh Uncle Thomas?”

“Uncle Thomas, I think I understand why the voters in San Francisco voted to have troops pulled out of Iraq, but what I don’t understand is why they didn’t also vote to cure cancer, to bestow sainthood on the Easter Bunny and teach pigs how to fly while they were at it? Please explain.”

“Uncle Thomas, my mashed potatoes are bland and could use a Daschle of salt. Speaking of Daschle’s, that former Senate Minority Leader sure got the stuffing beat out of him, didn’t he?”

“Uncle Thomas, I heard the Democrats tried to motivate the younger vote by having cool and hip artists like Bruce Springsteen hit the campaign trail on behalf of the Kerry ticket. That was a great idea, except for the fact that Bruce Springsteen hasn’t been cool or hip since you were a 18 to 29 year old voter.”

In all seriousness, Karsyn loves her Uncle Thomas. In fact, she’s already picked out his Christmas present. We were at the shoe store the other day and this great pair of beach sandals just jumped out at her. After all, what could be more fitting for a Kerry supporter than a brand new pair of flip-flops.

Ah kids.