Civic Duties

I should have ventured out to vote when I woke up at 6:30, but somehow, with no school buses to make and a whole lot of video to edit, I never made it out.  So I went many edits later, two kids in tow, and waited for about two hours.  It's a good thing that I had a bunch of work under my belt at that point (never enough, but a bunch), because two hours of trying to explain the long, slow-moving lines and the importance of voting to two kids left me pretty wiped out.

Not wiped out were the kids from the school where I voted, who tirelessly hawked baked goods and Halloween candy, all to help the victims of Hurricane Sandy.  This is the same school that is staying open till 8:30 each night to give people without power a place to be, meaning that the "victims" include families from our neighborhood.
 
It's not easy to raise good citizens.  So many things compete for our interest and attention, and sometimes, even for an adult, it's hard to see how our efforts make a difference.  If it's a leap of faith for us, how can we make our kids understand why it matters to wait on line to vote?  Somewhat easier, I have found, is to have them help make sandwiches for the food bank when our synagogue does that or donate extra blankets and hats to hurricane victims, knowing that the cold we are feeling on our way home from school is much worse for the children without heat or housing.  As with making good TV, the key to success is creating a truly relatable story.

I'll admit, I didn't do a great job occupying or convincing my children during our time on the voting line (though they've been quite interested in the election coverage on TV, so maybe their waiting time did make an impression).  I can only hope that tomorrow, when we drop off blankets and winter gear, my kids will understand, in some small way, that the little things they do DO matter.  Whether it's lining up or dropping off or spreading on (the PB&J on the food bank sandwiches)--those little things, even when they're done by little people, CAN make a real difference. 

I'll have to remember that myself.