To be perfectly honest, B and I did not talk much about the election with our kiddos prior to this week. We talked plenty between the two of us (my husband is a 538.com addict) but I did not want to drag my young babies into the noise, and certainly did not want to expose them to the awful, hateful spew coming from Trump and his campaign. I honestly didn’t think it mattered.

Wait. Let me rephrase that.

I did not think I had to talk to my children about Trump because I thought there was no way he would ever be elected to the highest office in this fair land, so I was just biding my time, keeping quiet with my head in the sand, hoping and thinking instead that we would get to celebrate this book becoming obsolete: 

And then Tuesday came and went, and my jaw hit the floor, along with my heart, and I spent yesterday fighting a 12 hour headache and a heaviness in my chest that such fear and division now has to become part of our family discussions. With Trump in office, who knows what messages will be put on a national stage. If they are anything like what we’ve seen throughout his campaign, I cringe and tear up at the thought of what my kids might hear because there is no way I can keep them from this any longer.

While this part of their growing up does not excite me, I realize today that there is a blessing in the moving forward. Because we can no longer afford to take the ostrich approach, I get to have powerful and meaningful conversations with my family about how we love and why we love ALL people. Even when doing so is hard. We will stick to our beliefs that there is good in the world and we will continue to BE the good by loving fiercely – on each other, on our neighbors, friends and family and everyone else, because frankly – that is the only way. I refuse to let hate and fear keep me from speaking out and teaching my children about acceptance, even if the president-elect demonstrates otherwise. I will be any ally and I will offer my time, talents, and treasure, when and where I can.

I begin, this week, with two special yoga classes. While that may sound silly or simple to some, I want to create space for people. I want to help them catch their literal breath and their emotional one, too, because when we take time to heal ourselves, we can help heal others, and so the work continues. Family YogaFamily Yoga (which has been on the books for over a month) is Saturday afternoon at 3:30 at the First Preys Annex; this is a donation class that will go to serve the Give Back Yoga Foundation ($5 suggested donation per family – all proceeds go to GBYF).

The second class, which is both free and already full, is something I plan to do every month from now until forever, because money should not be a limitation to the catching of breath, resting of body, and healing of heart. The fact that it filled so quickly tells me that people need care and connection, and that in the future, I may need to find a bigger venue than my porch to hold this, and that’s OK by me. Any small thing I can do to love on and support the people around me is all good in my books.

So. However you are feeling about the election results, I encourage you to love on and support those around you, too. If you can extend that loving kindness to those who are different from you, all the better. Do what you can, in whatever ways you can, to avoid the temptation to stick your head in the sand. These times are too important to ignore, and even in small, simple ways, we can show and share love.

And so – the conversations will come. And the work continues. No longer an ostrich will I be.