President He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named and his ilk can not last forever

I had this thought the other day; the wheel is not necessarily man’s greatest invention, but very well might have a been a woman’s.

I had this thought as I pushed the (wheeled) stroller, loaded up with two babies, a lunch bag, a diaper bag and a handbag and dragged a (wheeled) shopping cart behind me. How could a busy mother at the grocery store cope without wheels? Can you imagine trying to carry all that?

Yikes.

I also had a thought that it’s not really the children who are the future, sorry Whitney, but the parents of those children who are creating the children’s future by being active and educated about the world's issues and events. Now, before you think, oh, this sounds a bit political, let me tell y’all about a conversation I had with the boyfriend of a relative a few years ago.

Boyfriend (in a snooty British accent, as he looked down his nose at me): Well, as the token American in our group, what is your opinion of this mess in Afghanistan your President has got us all into?

Me (in my Yuk Yuk, Hey Thar! American voice): Well, I don’t reckon I got an opinion.

Boyfriend (even snootier, if that were possible): Somehow I don’t believe you don’t have an opinion on a subject!

Me (in my normal, if that is at all possible, voice): Well, of course I have an opinion. But I am not prepared to discuss it with you.

As you can see, I generally keep my politics to myself. However, the other night, as I was returning from a trip to the mall with a gal pal (we were both infant free that night), we got into a discussion of the next Presidential election. She expressed grave doubt that the GOP would release its Vulcan-like nerve pinch on our country, and sorrowfully spoke her fear of our children's futures as Americans. I made a hash out of explaining what I think will happen, so perhaps it’ll come across better in written form.

The children are our future, right? Teach them well and let them lead the way, right? Show them all...whoops. Let me start over.

The children are our future, right? Teach them well and let them lead the way, right? And who does most of the teaching these days? The children’s primary care giver. And a vast majority of the time, that primary care giver is the child's mother/mother figure. Now stop me if I am totally off the wall here (I know, too late!) but from what I have read in print and on line, and from what I have heard in my three playgroups/library groups, and from what I have seen in films - most mothers would rather not go to war, and would rather hash it out with a good long talk. From what I have experienced, most mothers try to be fair and do their best to be mature and to listen to both sides of an argument. That taken as true, won’t the **children** of these active, involved, thoughtful, intelligent, outspoken, peace-loving mothers/parents grow up learning these lessons?

Since children nowadays are not only seen and heard, but also respected, won’t these children of the 21st century listen to their parents' lessons and act upon them? If that logic follows, by the time the 2018 elections come along, the brain-dead septuagenarians who put He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named in office might very well all be dead, locked in an Alzheimer’s ward somewhere, or otherwise prevented from voting. The slack at the polls might very well be taken up by the freshly minted voting youth, whose parents’ lessons could very well have made an impression, thereby changing the face of political America.

Of course, I might be totally off the wall here; it has happened before. But I, for one, am going to hope for the best, and continue to teach my little ones the life lessons I hold dear. Stay out of the sun; too much causes cancer and can kill you. Don’t eat hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated fat; it causes heart disease and can kill you. And, be politically active, learn about the issues and pay attention! Apathy leads to constrictive governments run by Right-Wing Nut Jobs, who go to war on spurious reasons and lie to their people and systematically rob individuals of their rights, and if THAT doesn’t kill you, a draft just might, young man.

Now finish your nice organic free-range veggie burger. Honey, one more bite won't kill you.