A sad election time reminder.

So this isn't going to be funny, or very entertaining.  But something is weighing on my mind, and I'm going to let it out.

Yesterday I was at a local elementary school, in the office.  I witnessed something really sad.  A little girl and little boy were sitting in the office, waiting to be picked up.  The little girl was crying and saying she wanted to go to school.  The secretary was on the phone saying "Well, you need to prove you are in the country legally" and "they must have complete immunization records" and "you'll need to come get them".  She got off the phone and told the kids that their mommy would be there soon.  The little girl just had a breakdown.  She wanted so bad to be there.  My heart hurt for her.

Every message board I read is full of politics.  Unfortunately, most of the "politics" on these boards are full of mudslinging.  Not all, but too many for my taste.  So, this is my call to whoever cares to read my blog:

We aren't going through this election just to give us a reason to bash one another.  This is not just a chance to call people names for believing differently.  We are in the midst of election season for that little girl.  And all of the other children we cross every day, some whom we know and love, some we will never meet but could grow up to do incredible things.  They need us to help determine the course of their future.

I don't care how you intend to vote, that is up to you.  I'm proud of you for voting.  Sure, I'd love for you to vote for MY candidate, MY beliefs-  but that isn't what a democracy is about.  The problems our country faces are complex, and the answers are not just easy to come by.  It is confusing, and I'm sure that there will never be solutions that are perfectly fair to every person in the country.  And that is why we live in a democracy.  So that we ALL have the opportunity to look at all the issues we face, look deep inside ourselves to discover what the right answers are, and vote accordingly.

My heart broke for that little girl yesterday.  She may be here legally, she may not.  She may have access to immunizations, she may not.  While not everyone agrees on how to deal with those issues, I'm sure we can all agree on one thing- that 6 year old could not understand why she couldn't go to school.  And THAT in itself is sad.  Right, wrong, indifferent- it was sad.

And then I come online to read about a VP candidate possibly getting knocked up before marriage and how a candidate for the presidency may have been raised with religious teachings other than that of mainstream America.  Does that put all this mudslinging in to perspective for anyone else, or I am just overly emotional lately (admittedly that wouldn't be too far a stretch)?

I am tired of debating about things that won't help my children.  I am tired of hearing about "issues" that will not matter 40, 50, 100 years down the road.  So I am asking- regardless of which political theory you subscribe to- that we keep in mind a few important things: WHO and WHAT we are wanting to fix/protect/etc. and HOW we feel that can be done.  I want to look at my kids 30 years down the road and tell them that I have done everything I can to make their world better, regardless of my personal political philosophy.  I think we all want that.  So lets not talk about issues that should be left only to tabloids and entertainment news shows...lets talk about how to fix the challenges that we face as a nation.

Thanks for reading!