We're a passionate but not overly political family. We believe in "Do unto others" and tend to back candidates who feel the same. In the days leading up to the morning of the election, Lilah was all questions after hearing the debates and listening to us discuss everything from candidates to proposals. We made sure to avoid names where we could. I don't believe in indoctrinating kids no matter how worthy the cause.
"So you and Daddy are going to go vote today."
"Yes. It's our responsibility since we live here in America."
"So what do you do?"
"You go in the building and they hand you a piece of paper called a ballot. You write the name of the man you want to be in charge. Then you put the piece of paper in a secret box and it gets counted. The man with the most papers wins."
"Can I vote for Daddy?"
"First, you're too young to vote. Second, you can vote for whoever you want, but most people just vote for 2 guys and the guy who wins gets to be in charge."
"But Daddy says he's in charge."
"He's only in charge of you."
While I worked, Dano took her down to the Ferndale Activity Center to vote. It took about an hour to get through the line, but they made it. When I got home, we scarfed down some tacos before walking to the Activity Center for my turn. I had debated leaving dinner to simmer while we buzzed down and quickly voted, but the nurse in me wouldn't do it. Suppose the house burned down? After we ate, we walked with Lilah chattering the entire 3 blocks.
"We're going to write down our guy, put it in the box, and get a sticker that says we voted! And if it's still light out, we'll play at the park!" Revisions, revisions.
We got up to the building and I saw a lot of cars in the parking lot. "Darling, we might have to wait a little while. It will be no fun, but we still have to do it. If you're a good girl with no screaming or fits, I'll give you..." Brain wracking, brain wracking... "A sucker when we get home." She clapped her hands. Dismayed, I saw that the line snaked around the building. I hesitantly asked a couple leaving the building with a fussy baby, "How long?" The man shook his head.
"We just left and it was over 2 hours. They lost a ballot earlier in the day and it took them an hour to find it. Now they're behind." I queued up in the cold and, looking down at my bundled up daughter in her wool coat and mittens, holding a doll and a ball, sighed to myself.
"I'm not sure I can do this." She gasped.
"But Mother. We have to vote. It's our job!" Nothing like your own italics getting tossed back at you. I told her she was right and settled in to answering her usual thousands of questions. "What's he doing? Voting? I wonder if he's voting for my daddy. Is she on her phone? Is she gonna vote? What's her name? Can we go inside yet? Is it our turn? Can't we go up there? But what if I say, 'Excuse me'? Really? Not even then?" A woman behind us was stamping to keep warm and entertaining herself on her smart phone.
"How old is she?"
"3 1/2."
"Our youngest is too, but...he doesn't ask so many questions." Lilah grinned at her.
"Well, she's an only child, so it's how she learns."
"I think it's nice. She must be very smart." We made our way inside the building down a narrow hallway packed 3 lines of people shoulder to shoulder. I had to kick her out of her stroller, as there was no room to push it. She stayed close to me at first, clinging to my legs and talking to her doll. Her eyes were wide and darted about anxiously at so many people being packed so close together. She narrated every foot of ground we covered and made sure everyone around us knew we were here to vote because it was our job.
One woman grumbled that the map was already pretty blue, so she might just leave. Another woman turned around and said, "If young men and women can fight overseas for our freedom, we can stay in line to vote." The first woman shifted uncomfortably where she stood, but didn't leave. An exasperated-looking girl smiled fondly at Lilah.
"If that little one can still manage a smile, I have no right to leave this line. If she isn't on the floor kicking and screaming, how can I throw a fit?" Lilah tilted her head and smiled sweetly back at her.
"Hi. I'm Lilah Rose. I'm 3 1/2." She tossed her ball back and forth with me, and borrowed the penlight off my keychain to examine her doll's eyes and throat. "Mummy! I think she's sick! She has dry eyes!"
There were only a few other kids in line. Almost all were older, and every single one had either a tablet or a smart phone to play with. In fact, most of the adults did as well. At about the hour mark, batteries started to die. The volume of the kids went up. Lilah Rose played on. She tried to kick her ball to a little boy but he wasn't having any of it. The adults grew restless too. Not Lilah. She went person to person in a 5 foot radius encouraging them, totally unprompted. They could make it, they were almost there, and wasn't it great? They were getting to vote. I received so many compliments on her behavior. I beamed with pride and informed them this was her second time through this line today and we were lucky to have such a good girl. One man asked with a smile who she was voting for. She considered this.
"Maybe my daddy."
"You know, I haven't decided yet. Maybe I'll vote for your daddy too. What's his name?" She looked puzzled.
"It's Daddy! He's 26. Will you vote for him?" I shushed her and told her we didn't tell people how to vote. She nodded solemnly. "Sorry, Mother." Another hour passed. We were in the home stretch. She continued to entertain herself. I had a handful of sea-glass in my purse, which she sorted and held up to the light, pretending it was treasure. She found a pen and spare piece of paper in there too and wrote up her own ballot. "I'm voting for starfish!" We were queued on a handicap ramp leading up to the voting area. She fidgeted and I assured her we were almost there. She kicked her ball up the ramp, and a couple of nice people kicked it back. She squealed with delight and ran after it. This continued until more than 10 people were playing. If she disappeared around a corner chasing it, everyone craned their neck and assured me she was in sight and headed back. More and more people got in on the game until the entire queue was laughing along with her. She took a break to celebrate how close we were to voting by doing a dance. Other voters clapped too. Those with dead smartphones (and many others) thanked me profusely for bringing her along, saying she made the time fly by.
2 1/2 hours and we were next in line. The polite, friendly gentleman who'd been ahead of us the entire time was getting his ballot and receiving an apology for his wait. He smiled tiredly. "Honestly, if it hadn't been for her," he gestured toward Lilah (who was clapping in excitement that it was almost our turn), "I'd have been out the door." I blinked happy tears out of my eyes. We got our ballot and made our way to a table. She sat next to me with her starfish ballot and voted. I voted at lightning speed and wearily headed over to the ballot box. We received our stickers and Lilah got 2, since she'd voted twice today. Her starfish ballot was taken and slid into a box for shredding paper (many people had been informed of the starfish ballot) while the smallest voter in the room stood gravely by. My actual ballot made it into the box and we retrieved the stroller and headed for home.
I knelt in front of her while I buckled her in and didn't stop the tears. "Lilah Rose Marie Alexander. I have never been more proud of you in my life. You were better than good. You were perfect." She was glowing with pride.
"Do I get a sucker?"
I don't know what we did to deserve a daughter like this, but I'm continually amazed at how much of the world she comprehends. I wanted to turn around and leave, as I'm sure so many others did when they grew impatient with the wait. It only took one tiny smiling face encouraging them to stay and do their job as an American to make all the difference. We don't believe in raising her using a screen as a babysitter. Those parents who do aren't wrong. It's just not our style. I did notice that the kids who were glued to screens had absolutely no idea how to handle the waiting once their batteries inevitably died. Then again, neither did the adults. There's a quiet, graceful simplicity to Lilah Rose that I admire so much. She's perfectly at peace in her own beautiful mind and she doesn't mind having nothing to do. She makes up her own entertainment. Those people who say to me, "Why an only child? Won't she be lonely and bored?", those people don't understand how many friends she has in her head, and how busy she keeps herself with her games. One 3 1/2 year old kept a queue of hundreds entertained with a ball, a doll, and an indomitable spirit. I can't think of anything more American.
