OUR FAMILY
Sarah and Chris Jebsen of Bluffton, Ohio, and our kids Nicholas, 5, Amy, 3, and Luke, 21 months
OUR TRADITION
On all election days, we hold a vote to decide what's for dinner. The kids are involved throughout the process, from nominating the food to filling out ballots.
HOW WE GOT STARTED
Three years ago, we brought Nicholas with us to the polls for a local election. We had been talking to him about voting, explaining that everybody gets to have a say. When he learned he wasn't old enough to cast a ballot, he was very disappointed. So we decided to give him the chance to vote on a topic that he's quite impassioned about: dinner.
OUR NOMINATION PROCESS
We nominate our "candidates" a couple of days before scheduled elections. First we break down dinner into six categories: main dish, vegetable, side dish, fruit, dessert, and drink. Then Nicholas, Amy, and Luke take turns picking an item for each (Luke points to his favorites).
RUNNING THE CAMPAIGN
We create a chart of all the contenders and hang it in the kitchen. Sometimes we overhear Nicholas and Amy debating the candidates' merits: "You should vote for this!" or "But we just had that for dinner!"
HOW WE VOTE
On the morning of an election, we each get a ballot and everyone votes. (For Luke, we line up packages and he points.) Chris and I count the votes. Sometimes we announce the winners right away, but other times we make the kids wait until dinner is served. Either way, the kids' reactions are great, with both happiness and surprise -- just like a real election!
HOW EVERYONE WINS
Nicholas and Amy see that every vote truly counts. After announcing the winners, we lay out all the ballots, and sometimes we see that if one of us had voted differently, we'd be eating another kind of fruit that night.
WHY WE LOVE IT
Sarah: I love the confidence in the kids' faces when they nominate their favorite foods and know that their suggestions will be honored.Chris: Nicholas and Amy have so much fun being "big kids" with their very own ballots.
Nicholas: I feel excited to pick my foods. I like to vote for pizza and peas and lemonade!
Amy: It's like playing a game. Next time we vote I want to have macaroni and cheese and peanut butter and jelly.
