Do your duty

Tomorrow is Election Day! If you’re like me, you’ll be towing a small, enthusiastic child along with you to cast your ballot. Now that my daughter’s school district has officially named every first-Tuesday-after-the-first-Monday-in-November “Superintendent’s Day,” we have a standing date to head to our local polling place and do our civic duty.

Tomorrow’s midterm elections have gotten our team thinking about how we can inspire the next generation to do their part in building the future. Let’s explore it together, shall we?

—Lindsay

Tell Your Kids: It's Cool to Care

The presidential election in 2020 featured record voter turnout—​​154.6 million people cast a ballot to have their voice heard. But…that’s still only about 67% of adult Americans.

So how come some eligible voters didn’t vote? Didn’t they want their sticker?

• Turns out, the bulk of the 12.8 million registered voters who didn’t cast a ballot in 2020 cited not being interested in the election as their reason for sitting it out.

• Same went for the 25.8 million adults who weren’t registered in 2020.

We’d be willing to bet those non-voters would be more interested in this grand democratic experiment if their teachers, caregivers, and parents showed them just how cool it is to participate in your community. Here are a few ways to do just that with the kiddos in your life. We present: The (non-alphabetical) ABCs of raising inspired kids.

E is for Empathy

At the core of raising children who care about their community, their country, and their planet is instilling the ability to be curious about what other human beings are experiencing.

And one of the best ways to do just that is by modeling empathy in our daily (adult) lives. After all, kids are sponges. So? Ask your kids how they’re doing and what their day was like. Show interest in their interests. Demonstrate your own empathy and care for others by getting involved in your community (more on that in a sec). When you ask how the waiter’s day was, really listen to his answer.

C is for Community

Community is more important than ever post-pandemic, but it can be tough to find a reason to get out of the house at all these days, especially if you’re team WFH like me.

But kids, sponges—you know the drill. If dad or grandma are active in the community, kids will see that as the norm. So here are some starters for cultivating your community:

• Libraries, schools, and local government entities are great places to find community service opportunities. Extra points if these activities are built for kids (new friends alert!).

• “We like to take Drew to farmer’s markets, community events at school, and homeless shelters,” Shawn shared. “We want to show her what it’s like to be an active member of the community.”

And being an active member of the community means expanding your horizons—gaining exposure to different kinds of people with different backgrounds, cultivating new interests and hobbies, and seeing the true impact of getting involved.

H is for Helping Out

The upcoming holidays are a great opportunity to give our most valuable resource: time. Offer a helping hand with local initiatives like toy drives, clothing donation collection, animal shelter fundraisers, and family sponsor projects—and bring the kids along.

Doing so is a win-win-win:

• Win 1: You help fellow members of your community in need of a little extra support.

• Win 2: You show your kids that they can make a positive difference in people’s lives.

• Win 3: You find some great volunteer opportunities that you can still get involved with long after the holidays are over.

Start here: Here’s a helpful list of kid-approved community service. VolunteerMatch lets you search by zip code and interest. You can also check out America’s Promise Alliance.

The bottom line?

Your vote—whether with your ballot, your wallet, or your time—matters. When kids see that happening in real time, they’ll learn just how easy (and fulfilling) it is to show up, get involved, and care about the world around them. We have a feeling the 2040 election is going to be a record-setter. 😉

A tale of tails. Our public library has an awesome program that allows budding readers to read aloud to dogs. It's precious, it's a great way to prime kids for community service, and it fosters no-pressure literacy practice for shy kiddos.

Eager to help? Sometimes, all kids need is an idea. Whether it’s selling wrapping paper for their school or setting up a good old-fashioned lemonade stand, check out this list of kids’ fundraising ideas.

Pod catch-up. All the FamilyMade Media podcasts can be found in one spot, right here. Are you into all the tea? You’ll love the new Never TMI. Living that newlywed life? Mykayla Skinner and Jonas Harmer have it covered weekly on Agree to Disagree. In fact, keep your eyes peeled for some chats with our FM pod creators in upcoming newsletters… 👀

I love this community! We LOVED receiving your Halloween photos and hearing about your family traditions. Are we making a FamilyMade collage of community photos? Maybe. Thanks for being part of it all!