Election 2024/Get your kids involved and make sure to vote!

 VOTE!!

This post is geared for families with kids who are no longer infants.

It is that time of year. Our mailboxes are filled with flyers telling us to vote yes on this and no on that. The phone is ringing and if it isn't the IRS, it is possibly the recorded voice of a celebrity telling you why to support a specific candidate. Television and radio spots are election related. Many give a collective sigh of relief when election day comes and goes. 

And this is just the primaries. I don’t foresee a real break until after the November elections. Sigh.

But take a moment and remember what it’s all about.

I just voted this week. I usually like to go to the polls but I will be away on the actual election day, so this time I used an absentee ballot.

It was drilled into me at an early age that voting matters. I have early memories of going with my parents to their polling place. Knowing something about the issues and people running for office is our responsibility as much as it is a privilege. Of course growing up in Pennsylvania was quite a bit different than the robust California ballots that we are faced with here. Having to figure out how to vote on all of the propositions can be overwhelming.

Over the years I have voted on some strange ones; this is San Francisco after all. I used to bring our fat voting pamphlets home to my mom just for her entertainment.

A few of the odder ballot measures from the past that come to mind were:

Could a SF police officer use his ventriloquist puppet dummy while he was on the job?

Should the waste treatment center be renamed after George W Bush?

There have been years when there are more than 30 proposals to dig through.

Let your kids see the process. Invite friends over to talk about the issues. It is a great way for them to see that many of the ballot measures are multifaceted and often not black or white. How do you weigh all of the arguments? How do you sift through all of the information to find the points that sway you the most? Ask your kids how would they vote if they were eligible? Why? There are so many talking points and lessons to be learned.

This included perhaps one of the most tricky issues:

How do you deal with friends and family who have different opinions? 

If you vote by absentee ballot, have your kids help you fill them in and put them in the mail. If you go to the polls, take your kids with you. And wear your "I Voted" sticker proudly.

The photo of Sandy, Alana and me rocking our stickers is from a past election.