Politics

Please know, I wrote this post before the election.  I did that because I deeply believe what I am about to share with you – regardless of the election results. Most of the anxiety children feel about elections is fueled by the adults.

Temper Your Reaction

Your kids need you calm.  If your candidate did not win, please be careful how you speak about that in front of your kids.  The hyperbole of election season is always intense, and these last few cycles have been particularly crazy. But the reality of our children’s lives will stay steady if we protect them from the uproar.

Kindness

Kids do not need to pick a team.  Remind them to be accepting of their classmates and not to categorize other kids based on political talk.  Kids often just parrot what they hear adults saying and they don’t have a full grasp of the issues.

You can give them the following phrase to say if people are talking politics, “That’s why America is great! We can each have our own opinions and we are free to share them!”

If we stay calm as adults, it allows them to focus on the hard work of growing up.  Be strong, be reassuring and tell them the truth – that you will always protect them because you love them the most!

Also this, just for fun…