If you live in the United States, please remember to vote tomorrow (11/07/06).

I took my son to vote with me in the primary elections here in Michigan. I remember going with my parents when I was little. We were driving home from daycare and he was getting fussy. I told him that we would stop really quickly so that I could vote and then we’d go home. He got really quiet and that was that.

We went in and there was no line so the process moved really quickly. “What you doing, Mommy?” He asked. “I’m voting,” I told him. His little eyebrows scrunched up as he contemplated my answer, but he stayed quiet. I finished and dropped my ballot into the scanner. The volunteer gave me the traditional “I Voted” sticker and one to my son. He was thrilled and he admired it all the way to the car. I was so thankful that he had been so good.

I was buckling him into his car seat when he turned his attention from the sticker. “I don’t see it,” he told me. “See what?” I asked. “The boat,” he said. I laughed. It was not the awe of the political system at work that had kept my son quiet while I voted, it was the expectation of seeing a boat. “Not a boat,” I said. “Mommy had to v-v-vote.” I dragged out the v sound so he could hear the difference. I watched his little two-year old wheels turning and I saw the oncoming temper tantrum building just below the surface. Desperately, I said the first thing that came to my mind. “But you have sticker,” I said brightly. “Sticker?” He fingered his sticker and the storm abated.

Tomorrow, I will not take my son. I figure that things will get a little complex in this election. There are a lot more things to vote for so my husband and I are taking turns. When he’s a little older, I’ll take him more often so he can see how it’s done and, hopefully, he will follow in our footsteps.

I remember always that voting is a privilege and that you should not take it for granted. So, I vote in every election that I know about (a few of the local ones have slipped by me). I don’t believe in apathy. I don’t believe that a good way to protest an election is to not vote. Even if you think there is no possible way that it will turn out in your favor, you should vote. If everyone who thinks that their vote doesn’t count actually votes, imagine how different the world could look?