November 6, 2012…later in the day…Why it matters part II…

As soon as I picked Ewan and his brother, Vaughn, up from school today, they honed in on my ‘I voted’ sticker, and excitedly asked, “Did you vote today mom?”

I replied, “Of course, I voted!  It’s my duty.”  The historian in me giggled with delight as I explained all about voting to the boys.

Ewan seemed very excited about this, and asked, “So, can kids vote?  I want to vote.”

I shook my head, “No, kids can’t vote.  You have to be 18 years of age to vote.”

Ewan frowned, “Why?  That’s not fair!”

I patted his shoulder quickly before he squirmed away, and said, “Well, voting is a serious responsibility and you have to be able to handle that responsibility before you vote.  And that means you have to be a little older.”  When Ewan continued to frown at me and mumble something about unfairness in the American political landscape, I said, “You know, I wanted to talk to you about rights today anyway.  So even though you don’t have the right to vote just yet, you do have another right.”

Excited, he asked, “What right?”

I smiled, thinking maybe I’d found a segway into my next topic, “Well, it’s called the right of inclusion.”

He groaned, “Inclusion?  That’s not fun.”

I laughed, “Well, maybe, maybe not, but it’s still a right.  And it’s something you should know more about.” …continue reading