Election Day

The most interesting thing about this election for me so far has been that the children are old enough to (vaguely) comprehend what is going on.  They've been talking about it at school, asking questions about the boards and banners being put up in people's gardens, and even had the local MP rock up at the school gates in the hope of catching parents for a chat in that nanosecond that you have between dropping your child off and trying to re-engage your brain for whatever it is you're supposed to be doing for the rest of the day.  I would have loved to talk policies but had the rather more pressing issue of remembering to remove the Power Ranger from my jacket pocket and trying to arrange my features into something other than disheveled bewilderment before the meeting I was heading to.

Introducing the children to our political system has woken me up a bit, encouraged me to be more engaged and given us as a family the opportunity to discuss what happens in our local community and the "building from the HP Sauce bottle".  

Here's what they've thought about it so far:

1. "You should not vote for David Cameron - because he's had a go, now it's someone else's turn."

Why is the man from Hop involved?
(c) The Times

2. "But you should vote for David Cameron if you want to, because your vote is private, and no-one can tell you who to vote for."

3. "Why is the man from Hop involved in the election?"  

4. "Which one in the picture is the politician?"  

5. "Ed Miliband?  Russell Milibrand?  Ed Brand?  Which one is the politician again?"

Cast your vote!

6. "If you vote for my friend's granddad - he'll take us all inside Big Ben.  It's true, he told me."  (I thought this was a big wind up until I discovered that one of his friend's granddad's is standing as an MP. Whether being an MP allows you to take your grandson's friends and family into Big Ben I'm unsure, but nonetheless I owed him an apology).

7. "David Cameron talks nonsense.  My friend told me."

8. "It looks like you need to post your vote in the recycling bins."  They're not wrong!

I also discovered that you can't be too bleeding serious and earnest about this, and if you take your children into the village hall to witness the wonder that is democracy, and living in a country where you can cast a vote without fear of being attacked or intimidated they will do what all small children would do in these circumstances - walk up onto the stage (oh yeah, we've got a stage in our village hall!), pull back the curtains and leap off it like a lead guitarist jumping into a moshpit.  Voting ROCKS!

Soundtrack: Election Day, Arcadia

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