Take Time to Vote, Take time to Teach Kids a Valuable Lesson

By Allison Berman
November 3, 2009

Many people won't vote today. They'll leave for work too early and get home too late. They won't want to wait on long lines with kids. It's not a presidential election, so it isn't as important (note the sarcasm). Republican incumbents are going to win anyway - as Jerry Seinfeld would say, "not that there's anything wrong with that." (In the spirit of full disclosure, I am a registered Republican who votes with my heart.) All kidding aside, people have lots of reasons why it's "inconvenient" to vote.

I work from home, so it's easy for me to get to Kings Elementary School. I go during the day, there's no line, and I love bringing my kids with me. I have been bringing my older daughter for so many years, she is a pro at closing the curtain and flipping the switches to vote. (I was very sad to learn my district is looking into getting more "high tech" voting booths.)

Local races can be a hot topic

My only voting inconvenience has been finding the time to finally figure out what each political office is responsible for, and then sorting through all the names on the signs I drive past, to figure out who is running against whom for which office, so I could decide who I believe will do which job best.

The race for county legislator is a particularly hot topic in my house because, back in September, my husband and I made an exception and took our daughters out on a school night to vote in the Republican primary between Ben Winstanley and Al Buckbee.

Win or lose, support your team

Voting in the primary raised all sorts of questions about political parties and how candidates' names get on the ballots. Once my daughter got over the disappointment that political parties are less like streamer and birthday cake parties and more like "teams," my husband and I explained our vote "said" who we want to represent our "team" on Election Day.

Buckbee, who won the primary, is running on the Republican ticket. Winstanley, the incumbent, is running on the Conservative ticket (so they will most likely split Republican votes). That leaves Scott Schwartz, the Democratic candidate, with an edge.

Our daughter is very excited to see if we vote for the same person we did in the primary, and even more excited to see who will win.

My daughter sees me reading the candidate's platforms to determine whose ideas are in the best interest of our family and community. Though she knows we will "get behind" whoever wins, demonstrating the importance of being a team player even if we don't always like the boss' strategy.

Inconvenient but important

She also understands politicians do the same, acting in what they believe is in the best interest of all the constituents. And she understands that's why we vote, to try to put the person whose strategy we believe in, in office.

Teaching our children to vote is inconvenient. Deciding who to vote for is inconvenient. Learning to accept "the elected" official even if it wasn't "your candidate" is inconvenient.

Voting? That's the easy part.

Allison Berman, an artist and mother of two, handpaints custom home accessories for interior designers and private customers. She works out of her home studio in Warwick, NY. See her collection at www.withlovealib.com. She can be reached at ali@withlovealib.com. Her column appears Tuesdays.