I stayed up as long as I could this morning, but in the end I made myself go to sleep knowing what we would all learn eventually and trying to figure out a way to explain this to my daughters. They went to sleep thinking they would wake up to a bold new day: the first woman President of these United States.
You see, while we didn’t demonize Donald Trump in this house, we didn’t sugar coat it either. My kids know the things he says, the classes of people he has maligned and the things he’s been accused of. And because we’ve done our job teaching them right vs wrong, they know what he represents without us labeling it for them.
This morning I had to tell them that Donald Trump is our President-Elect and they sobbed. Because not only did their dream of seeing a woman President not come true, but at 8 and 11 they just discovered that sometimes wrong wins.
But as I try to reassure them that everything will be okay and no, the world will not end, I can’t help but be afraid of what this means for their future, for the things they may want to do, the people they may want to love, and the beliefs they may have.
If we’ve learned nothing else from this election it’s that there is in fact a slippery slope. Who knows where it will take us.
Short term? We’re all taking a “mental health” day from work and school, playing with dogs, eating dry cereal on the couch, and watching movies. Escapism at its finest. For today.
[Artwork from Jennifer Judd-McGee of Swallowfield]
Karina Coombs 