And more importantly, it was my son's first time voting at all.
I am not politically active and keep my beliefs to myself, but there are a few things I feel very strongly about when it comes to patriotism, and in turn, politics. I believe it is our duty to fulfill any jury duty we are selected for, no matter who you are and the 1000 excuses you have not to serve. Our country would not function without our jurors. There would be no point in laws or enforcing said laws if it were not for our police and our entire judicial system, if we didn't due our duty to serve on a jury. Some time, I will talk about my time. It was a doozy of a case, probably one of the more famous ones in Minnesota. And I should scrapbook that time.
And I feel very strongly about voting. I do not care if your beliefs do not align with mine, and probably won't, but it is one of those times where we do actually have a say in how things go in this country, and you have and should exercise that right. I do not care (well to some degree :-) if the vote comes back 900 to my 1 vote. That means that the public has spoken. Your single vote does matter. A lot. It is that once a year you have a say in your government. Exercise that right!
I have made sure that my own children understand that their one vote, their few minutes to have a say, does matter and is not to be taken lightly, that right.
My daughters first year at college we drove the 150 miles down and back to help her vote because she couldn't understand absentee voting and waited too long to do so anyway.
My son got his first official voting experience during the August primaries in Minnesota. He took a long time. He took it seriously. Oh, he joked with us beforehand about how he was going to vote, pretty silly stuff, but when it came time to cast that vote, he really took it that his voice mattered. I couldn't be more proud of him. We told him that he does not have to share with us his choices. It is personal. We were just proud to have him cast his vote. He did end up sharing and his reasons.
He and I will never exactly align politically, and we agree to disagree an awful lot at home. And that is okay. It makes for some loud and crazy and long discussions at home a few times a year. We see each others point, even if they are different. He has his reasons, I have mine. We all come from different life stories and that heavily influences how we vote and who we vote for.
I am so proud to watch him (from across the room ;-) cast his first vote. His voice was heard. And that is all that matters!
And I have to laugh, I look like I am standing in a hole next to the two boys. I really am not. I am taller than that. I had to lean over to get in the picture.
Supplies: Project Life App and the Project 12 July Edition card collection
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