For Our Kids, Help Bring Our Country Back Together

We all know this year’s election will make a huge impact on families across America in different ways. This is how it’s impacting mine.

Earlier this week at breakfast, my two daughters, CJ (age 6) and Ellie (age 5), and I had the following conversation. It was a long conversation, so I’ve abbreviated it for length.

Ellie to CJ: Who do you think Daddy should vote for?

CJ: Hillary. Daddy, is Hillary going to be the president?

Dad: I don’t know.

CJ: I don’t want Trump to be president.

Dad: Why not?

CJ: Because he is dangerous.

Dad: Did you hear that from your friends, or did you decide that yourself?

CJ: I decided it. Trump could start a war.

Dad: Well, any president could start a war. Sometimes that happens to protect us. You like President Obama, and he has sent troops into Iraq.

Ellie: I don’t like Trump.

Dad: Why?

Ellie: [A classmate] said he is gonna build a wall around her nanny’s city. (I try to explain what Trump was really saying, but am interrupted by CJ.)

CJ: Hillary’s a liar. Why does she lie? [A classmate] told me they are going to put her in jail.

Dad: Well, she did some careless things, that’s for sure. Some people say she has lied, and others say she didn’t. She says she didn’t. (I try to explain the jail issue, to no avail.)

…

CJ: I think Hillary and Trump are bad on the outside, but I think Hillary is good on the inside.

Dad: Why’s that?

CJ: I don’t know. She seems like she likes people, and you told us she thinks we should be a family. I don’t want Trump to be president. I don’t like him. I think he’s probably bad on the inside.

Dad: I don’t know who the president is going to be, but whoever it is, we have to respect him or her. That’s really important. Everyone in America will get to vote and whoever gets elected will be our leader. We have to respect our leader.

CJ: Even if the president is a bad person?

Dad: Well, Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump have made mistakes—a lot of them. But everyone makes mistakes. No one is perfect, sweetheart.

CJ: Jesus is. (Rick and I are Christians, but we have also tried to expose our children to different theologies. CJ is very much into the New Testament.)

Dad: Well, yes. I mean no one who is alive is perfect, and whoever is elected president isn’t going to be a perfect man or woman. It’s important to respect the president because we want America to be the best country in the world. And we want our president to be strong, even if we don’t always agree with him or her. You know how we talked about Daddy and Daddy-O respecting President Obama, but not agreeing with him very much?

CJ: Yes. Ok. I will respect the president.

Ellie: Can we vote today? I want to have the election now.

Dad: So do I, honey.

This conversation has been eye-opening. This election is more than just rhetoric and campaign theatrics. It’s about the future of our nation and the future we can create for our children. Through their eyes we see a crisis of conscience, but we also see a younger generation invested in the future of their country, reminding us that this is what the great American experiment is truly all about.

Now more than ever, we need to come together as a country to rededicate ourselves to those values that make America exceptional. Our modern, global system may have its flaws, and as leaders, we may have our faults. But our system has done more to lift people from poverty, save lives and improve the human condition than any system in human history. We will not and cannot let it fall victim to today’s misguided politics.