I heard from my 4th grade daughter last night that they held a mock election for Minnesota governor in their class between the Democrat Mark Dayton, the Republican Tom Emmer and the Independent Tom Hoerner. She told me she voted for Mark Dayton, which warmed my heart a bit since we'd never really discussed politics much, though she knows my wife and I are both Democrats. Then she told me something that made my heart sink through the floor.
She said her best friend told her that Mark Dayton wanted to kill all the babies, and that was why she was voting for Tom Emmer.
I was shocked to say the least, after all where would a 9 year old even come up with such an idea. "You know that's not true, right?" I asked her. She immediately replied "Yes, I know, that's what I told her. But she said 'No, it's true, my Mom told me!'"
I wanted to cry. I can only assume she was talking about abortion, since my daughter didn't elaborate, and I wasn't prepared to go into that discussion right then and there. But obviously her best friend has had that discussion with her mother.
I know very little about this woman. When my wife or I see her while dropping off or picking up the girls she's polite but usually has little to say to either of us. When she takes the girls, she has a habit of buying her daughter, and our daughter, what seems like everything and anything they ask for. We tried to talk to her about it, but it fell on deaf ears. We had a conversation with our daughter about it and tried to make sure she understood that while her friend's mother felt one way about buying things, we felt differently, and while we weren't going to make her refuse to accept the generosity, she needed to be appreciative and not expect it to happen. She seemed to get it.
I'm not sure how to go about this next conversation, how do you explain abortion to a 9 year old? Do you even try?
Never mind the fact that a state governor has little to do with US Supreme Court decisions. Never mind the debate on when a fertilized egg cell becomes a baby. Never mind the revulsion at carrying your rapist's baby to term. Because no matter what your view is on any of those things, why would you plant that image in your 9 year old daughter's head?What the f!*k was she thinking?
Part of me wants to end my daughter's relationship with this girl, part of me wants to wring this woman's neck, but most of me just wants to know how the hell we got here, and what, if anything, could ever possibly make this woman learn restraint.