But, political at 5?

Hello All,
I have to tell you of some of the bizarre things that have been going on around here. Now, I know, the political scene is heating up (Palin? Alaska? Really?) and the country is all a tither with the musings of this party and that party. BUT, you have to remember that we don't watch news, and the kids do not see any commercials and then this may amaze you as much as it did me. Osmosis in young people is unreal.

Yesterday morning, I was reviewing my email and CNN.com (I know, I know, I told you, I should not do it, but honest, I was only reading the headlines). Maestro often likes to come into my office in the morning. He sits on the floor and draws with the markers and paper that have somehow taken up permanent residence on my floor. I wasn't paying all that much attention to his ramblings, because, let's face it folks, it was 7:02 in the morning and I'm not down a cup of tea yet.

So, he was drawing and chattering away and after about 15 minutes he says, "Look, Mommy, what do you think?". There before me was a big McCain sign. Hmmmm....now my first reaction was horror of course. I don't want to offend any of you, but if you know me, you just know that will cause involuntary revulsion and if he is voted president, I may just go under the covers and not come out for 4 years. Anyways, stomach clenching, I said "Huh. What's that?". He then went on to show me the Barak Obama sign that followed (this one had a sun on it, I'm happy to report), Carol Shea-Porter, John Sununu, Stephen, Jeb Bradley and Jean Shaheen. They also had what they were running for under their names. He asked me if he could put the Obama sign on the lawn and suddenly it struck me where he'd seen all of these. Up until he asked that question, I was amazed that he knew who the candidates were and that all of these were spelled correctly. He had seen the signs on other people's lawns on his bus route home from school. This is one of the pitfalls of a child who can read so young and so well. That and the fact that we stopped trying to get things by him by spelling them when he was 2 because he knew what we were spelling.

I had to explain that first off, the paper he wrote it on wouldn't last the elements outside for long and second that we don't want to post our political views for God and the neighborhood to see. Though I've just posted this on here, it's one of those things that I think should be personal knowledge and not start some neighborhood debate with any possible lurking wacko that might just camouflage himself as your nice neighbor. More on how seemingly nice neighbors can go bad in a later post.

Then later that afternoon, Little Red and I were outside enjoying some subtropical temperatures (thanks Gustav), and he spotted a dandelion that had turned to seed. You know, the white puff ball on a stick that is completely irresistible when you're a kid (okay, so for me as well). He ran over and picked it and told me he would make a wish. His wish, are you sitting down? was put this way. "I wish for the future of America". You can picture my jaw on the pavement as I asked 4 year old him to repeat himself. "I wish for the future of America". I asked him "Where did you hear that?" . He replied, "I made it up". Now, clearly, he couldn't have made it up and had to have heard it somewhere, but I was just floored. I just said, "well, that's a good wish, Buddy".

It's so interesting to me to see how their little brains process things. And how they just pick up stuff that we don't give a second thought these days. It also shows me how much all those aforementioned negative influences can be learned in ways we never thought about. If my 5 year old can tell me who all the candidates are and what they are running for, he could certainly learn how to shoot someone watching this activity on some horrifying commercial for yet another violent movie. But, I was just amazed, truly I was. They are little sponges and though I see it all the time, this really struck me as noteworthy. Maybe the signs you'll see in a few years will say "Maestro or Little Red for President".

Humbled by their intelligence, ~Peacemom