The road ahead

It has been an emotionally draining week. The election was on Tuesday. I didn't realize how draining it was until this weekend. Yes, Obama won.

The day before, Kiira came home from school and asked, "Mom, are we voting for McCain?" "Oh my," I replied. I quickly gave my eldest a lesson in why I thought Obama was the better candidate. I was so proud of her though for thinking about such grown up things. They have clearly been talking about voting at school. She came home one day with a sign that said "VOTE!" that she had colored in.

The night of the election, we let the kids stay up late and watch. Kiira was really into it. We tried to explain to her about red states/blue states and everytime she heard a color being called - she rushed to the TV to see what state it was. Not sure she actually got the whole electoral process, but hey, that confuses alot of grown ups. Both kids kept cheering, "Go OBAMA!!"

I hope that night is one that she remembers for years to come. We kept saying that this was a moment in history for her to remember. Bless her though, she has no clue that it is a historic moment for an African American. She really doesn't care about the color of someone's skin. When I asked her to describe what Obama looked like, her first reply was that he has a nice smile.

One thing I was very disappointed by was Prop 8. California voted on whether or not to repeal one of our latest laws that allows same sex marriage. The Yes's won - meaning it was repealed and same sex marriages are no longer allowed. It was disappointing to me not only because I believe that two people should have a right to marry, no matter their sex, but also because I don't believe all people really knew what they were voting on. The media (funded largely by the Mormon church in Utah) pulled in issues that had nothing to do with this one. For one, they tied same sex marriages into the schools saying teachers could teach your child about these issues.

First, this was not what we were voting on. Second, it already HAS permeated schools to a certain degree. Teachers have kids that have two mommies or two daddies and often they will have to field questions about this. While I agree there needs to be some control about what teachers tell our kids, it is not practical for them to not be able to explain something that the children may see day to day.

Our country made a vow to honor separation of church and state. Yes, I don't think marriage and who one should marriage should be taught in schools just as I don't believe religion should be taught in schools. So why pull this in? If you ask me, it was done to confuse the issue. And it worked. I talked with several people that said they voted the wrong way. Sigh....it passed 51% to 49%. I can't help but wonder if these people had fully understood the issue if the 49% couldn't have turned into the 51%.

Yes, history is being made every day. Slowly but surely change will creep upon us, whether we like it or not. Change can be good, even if it scares us. Change can be exciting if we let it. If we are lucky, Obama will be in office for 8 years. It shocks me to think that Kiira will be 13 year old when he leaves. By then, I think she will have a strong grasp of red states/blue states.