“We Don’t Have To Move To Canada”
Me: “How, do you feel?”
Paige: “I’m so happy! Now we don’t have to move to Canada!”
Last night Paige and I watched the television news coverage of the election results. We were both on edge of our seats at first but that quickly turned into hope when key battleground states started turning blue. Hope transitioned into disbelief (what? over so soon?) and was then quickly replaced by joy when we realized that McCain was conceding. When I turned to Paige after his concession speech she had tears streaming down her face at full force.
Now I have seen my daughter cry a lot over the last 14 years and from experience I have found that tears generally fall for the following three reasons:
- I hate my mother because she an oppressive b*tch.
- My friend, boyfriend, teacher, [fill in blank] looked at me funny or said something nasty and now my life is over.
- I twisted my ankle playing sports and now must have my leg amputated.
In 14 years I have never seen Paige cry tears of joy. It was pretty moving to witness and suffice to say, brought me down into the ugly cry myself. When I inquired about why she was crying, she said it was because she was so happy. The tears were flowing because she now feels as though she has some hope for the future. And that anything was possible for her as a bi-racial child (Obama is half-white like me!).
After the waterworks started to subside (on both sides) I asked Paige what she was feeling. She said she had been feeling as though the Earth might not survive the span of her lifetime and there was no hope planning for the future. She was terrified the war would never end. And most importantly, she was so worried that if McCain became President, he wouldn’t even care about her generation (he doesn’t even know what text is!).
You must understand, Paige was the most ardent Obama supporter. She insisted that I hand deliver my absentee ballot instead of mailing it (voter fraud!). She reminded me a number of times to take it to the drop box yesterday morning … a even sent me a text message from school to make sure I had done it. When I let her fill in the bubbles on the absentee ballot I thought it was giving her a lesson in civic responsibility, but I now realize that I also gave her a sense of control over her own future. We not only cast of vote for Obama, but we cast a vote for her own destiny. In her mind, she is Obama too.
And she is at the ready to cast her own vote in 2012.
Tags: barack obama, barack the vote, civic responsibility, election, move to canada, paige, president elect, vote
This entry was posted on Wednesday, November 5th, 2008 at 8:05 am and is filed under Daily. Both comments and pings are currently closed.
You must be so proud of raising such an intelligent girl. Kudos to you and I hope I can manage the same.
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How can you talk like that to your daughter. I am and will always be a McCain supporter, when my kids got up this morning(12, 14 & 15) that were sad that Obama became president and started to say negative things about him. I stopped them and said he is now the president of the united state – your UNITED state and you must support him while he is president. Obama would be disappointed in you and your daughter from what I have heard he wants a united america not a divided. Your still divided even though he won. BTW my father is a great man and he loves his grandchildren and cares deeply about that generation and he can’t text either.
@Coco – I am proud! Thanks!
@Kelly – I’m not sure what you are talking about. I don’t say negative things about McCain the person, but I do not agree with his ideology. These are the thoughts/words of a 14 yo and the culmination her own opinion after reading the newspaper, watching 3 debates, discussing the issues with her classmates and watching a documentary on both candidates. The text comment came from her not me and it was her interpretative comment of her believing that he doesn’t get her generation. My father doesn’t text either and he cares about the future too. Please know that we are unified in the fact that we love our kids and our country. There is nothing divisive about that.
Sorry you took offense.
I am sorry I took offense too. I hope that my worst fears for him becoming president and your greatest hopes for him becoming president are not the same – because america will never become united.
@Giyen – I, too cried tears of joy last night. What an amazing moment for our country! And I agree with Coco – you’ve raised quite the capable daughter.
@Kelly – I want a united America, but I am also on the defensive for Obama. I know (personally) some right-wing extremists who think Obama is a terrorist and hope he will be assassinated. I thought McCain’s concession speech was gracious, but I couldn’t believe the boos and negative comments I heard leaving the mouths of his supporters. My point is that there are people who will remain “divided” but as long as the majority of us come together and take responsibility for change, we will see the positive changes our country desperately needs.
I hope that we all can really COME TOGETHER and get over petty arguments under Barack Obama’s leadership.
@Giyen – Great job! I wish my parents had managed to instill a sense of pride and interest in politics in me at a young age. It wasn’t until this year, at age 29, that I finally became interested in politics, and deciding between the ideologies of the major parties was an easy choice for me. I’m overjoyed and feeling a huge sense of relief now that those with an eye towards the future, instead of their own pocketbooks, are back in control.
@Kelly – Great job to you too, as you exemplify the worst part of the Republican party: the part that seeks to twist any remotely Democrat-supporting sentiment into a personal attack, and then retaliate against nothing.
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@Dave Huston – anyone who starts a post out with now we don’t have to move to Canada exemplifies the worst of the democratic party! Enough said; I’ll just have to wait and see if my greatest fear come true.
@ Anna And that has nothing to do with thinking that Obama is a terrorist and anyone who want anyone to be assassinated is not a TRUE american
I was doing the same thing last night before the results starting rolling in — checking citizenship requirements for Canada and Australia. It’s always a thought in my mind regardless of who is running our country.
As the results starting rolling in my confidence in this country started to lift. I actually slept peacefully last night. I kept my son (9)home from school today because we were up so late watching Obama’s acceptance speech. He is ready to vote when he turns 18 (quite a few years away) and he wants to make campaign calls like I did all day yesterday. He also accompanied me in my voting booth and watched the levers being chosen. And, he learned to read, research and make up his own mind about making choices.
I’m proud of your daughter. As a parent, it feels good to see that our children can gather information, form opinions and take action towards causes they believe in.
@AskMichele
Do you have any idea how many negative comments I’ve gotten from McCain supporters? “hope we can survive the next 4 years” “i am heartbroken” “i’m moving to Siberia” “i am disappointed in America” “i’m thinking OH SHIT”…you’ll find these remarks on both sides, Kelly.
I support your daughter’s remarks! How truly perceptive and beautiful! Those who want to leave this country are fee to do so but now I feel great HOPE that the America I have been praying for is actually being carried in a positive direction through one man’s rise to power. Deeply humbling…and incredibly empowering!! Our nation can change; our world can change. WOW!!
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@giyen:
Your daughter represents an entire generation of too-young-to-vote people who had high hopes that our country would get its ass in line before they grew up. I commend you for raising a child that has the concern and intelligence it takes to learn both sides, be objective, and decide on his/her own who represents their ideals.
As the mother of a three-year-old, I feel very strongly about protecting her future and ensuring that I do what I can to prevent any sort of atmosphere that will impede her path to success. As the mother of a three-year-old biracial daughter, I feel the need to show her that social equality is not a myth and that she can and will succeed in life, neither because of or despite her racial identity. I feel that electing Barack Obama and being a strong, vocal supporter for him has helped me show her, even at a very young age, that being passionate is a good quality and can be used to improve life for everyone, not just personally.
Please don’t feel disheartened by the negative comments about your parenting. Everyone will never agree about things that are so personal; it is apparent that your detractors are unwilling to try. You should feel pretty darn good about your daughter and her insightful personality. : )
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On Twitter and on the blogs I’m seeing it already. People saying “Let’s give Obama the same respect that the Democrats gave Bush.”
There are so many differences that it makes my heart break.
I watched Bush speak after winning in 2004. He was celebratory, arrogant. He spoke of mandates and the political capital that he would spend. Political capital. “I won the vote, I can do what I want.” that is what “I will spend my political capital” means.
I watched Obama last night. He wasn’t celebrating. He was reserved, controlled, humbled at the responsibility and trust being placed on his shoulders. He was thoughtful. He did not dismiss those that did not vote for him. He did not claim political capital. He reminded us that we are AMERICA. He begged us to unite. He said that those of us whose vote he didn’t get are still part of America and their voices will be heard. And he asked them for their help.
How can people listen to that and refuse to give the man a chance before ripping him apart? If he turns out to have lied and doesn’t even listen to the diverse voices in this country, then he’s fair game. But a man comes to you and humbly asks you to work with him..
And you plan on showing him the respect due to man that says “SCREW YOU, I’LL DO AS I LIKE BECAUSE MWAHAHAHA I GOT THE ELECTORAL VOTE! ALMOST-50-PERCENT OF YOU CAN GO JUMP OFF A BRIDGE BECAUSE I HAVE POLITICAL CAPITAL!”
Yeah. And these are the people that consider themselves good Christians? I simply don’t get it.
What Sara said. Just followed you on Twitter, Giyen. Listen, I’m an Independent, because I believe the pre-bastardized Republican party had some good points, and the Democratic party that I used to align myself with has some bad ones.
As someone with loyalties to neither major party, I say we follow what Barack wants us to do and graciously join hands as one nation. Anyone who doesn’t want to be a part of the one America can leave it if they wish to, or simply move to the sidelines while we clean up this mess. And those of us who are ready to roll up our sleeves and responsibly help Obama can be humble and gracious to anyone who may not have voted for him but is ready to concede.
I would have been Literally forced to move to Canada or with my parents to West Africa (I’m a born citizen of the USA), due to the pre-existing conditions clause. I’m convinced that those who are anti-Obama (rather than pro-McCain- BIG difference) were fooled by the negative anti-Obama campaign against him.
This is said as someone who checked Every fact, painstakingly, on both sides, before deciding who to vote for.
Let’s focus on what we’d like to see grow. And that would be one, united America, ready to work on issues important to Everyone. You only have to look to his Congressional record to see that Barack isn’t just blowing smoke when he says he’ll work with Republicans — he already has. He’s *authored* bills with them.
We can resume sorting out our differences when we get this country back on track, and hopefully that experience alone will allow us to all conduct ourselves as adults. In the meantime, let’s just try uniting under the things we have in common. We haven’t tried that yet. Let’s see if it’ll work.
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What a powerful post!
I love that you daughter has such interest and passion about her future. I was really touched. Many teens can’t see past today, or perhaps what they’ll wear tomorrow.
All the best. x
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I know – I can’t stop smiling like a fool today!
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Now *I* am crying.
Again.
What a lovely post.
I remember when Bush was re-elected in 2004. I was in high school, and so angry, wishing I could vote, feeling like at 17 I knew better than the majority of this country. Your daughter will remember this election because, you’re right, it’s her victory too. I feel like part of Obama’s win can be attributed to people finally looking out for one another, and realizing that if the future is to be improved, Obama is our chance. It’s so wonderful that at 14, Paige already developed an emotional investment and sense of responsibility for the future of the country. I am still smiling about election day. I hope you continue to write about politics (even if you step into Dooce hateful comment territory!), because I think it’s important we remember how we felt. Everyone should keep in mind what our expectations were, and work together to meet them.
I am offended that some conservatives are so angry. I mean, when Bush STOLE those elections, we were still pretty nice about it, all things considered. This was a fair and square win for Obama, and we should ALL be celebrating that we had the highest voter turn out since women first got the right to vote. 62% turned out! Yeah, their guy didn’t win, but this is a democracy (again! finally!) and thems the breaks. Obama is actually pretty conservative esp. fiscally, I mean the freakin’ Economist endorsed him!
I find a lot of really young people are like, “Whats the big deal about Obama winning? He was better in the debates and had a better campaign, why wouldn’t he win?” And THAT is BEAUTIFUL!
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Okay, I had to check out what all the excitement was about. I do not think that anyone should have felt offended by your post, thats what is coolest about opinions we all have one and should respect that of our neighbor. Good for your daughter that she took such interest, she will be a well prepared voter when it is her turn.
But, I must burst your bubble, after living in Canada for many years, there are not very many Americans that would like to pay 48% income tax to have the social programs available there. And, as my MIL is a nurse there, she recently told me “what does not work for us at 30 million people would never work for your 300 million.” Their system is very flawed too. I had to drive to Detroit or Buffalo many times to get the care we needed, because of waiting lists and closed clinics or very understaffed hospitals that asked me to go down the road because the tech was not available etc. And this was in major center like Hamilton, Ottawa and Montreal. I truly pray their is some solution to this crisis here in America. An interesting question that a Independent recently asked me, “Is health care a right or a privilege?” I’m still pondering…
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Giyen,
So sad that everyone can’t have your refreshing sense of humor. God knows that’s what gets us through. Why even bother to respond to people with such closed minds? Proud of you (finally sharing your writing and other talents) and your beautiful daughter!
I just found your blog and I am so intrigued. I am a little surprised someone was offended by what you had to say as well, but politics are a funny thing. I have to agree with Sara when she spoke of the poise Obama had after winning and the way he immediately tried to unite the nation. I don’t know about you, but I don’t understand how someone could hear him say “we are not a black america or a white america, not a latino america or an asian america, but the United States of America” and not get goosebumps head to toe. Isn’t this what we have all been waiting for, a President that has everyone’s interests in mind? My children are biracial and though I spoke with them in length about not voting for someone simply on race, I too cried tears of joy to see how proud my daughter was of this man. She said to me “wow, mama, he has a white mama and a brown daddy like me and he just won President.” Coming from a 6 year old, it meant something all together different. Like your daughter, maybe she sees that as hope. All we can do now is hope and pray that promises are kept and we soon are raising children in an improved USA.
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