Permanently Curing your Election Hangover
This column this month isn’t about politics (if you’ve read the headline and are about to skip over it).
At the end of last month, Ontario residents voted in their fifth election since the beginning of the pandemic – two federal, two provincial and one municipal. Between the ads from those five elections, and the ones from the two elections down south, we are all pretty burnt out. Social media doesn’t have the thirty second lifecycle of a TV political attack ad either. If you’re done with it all like I am, welcome to the club.
Anytime we start exercising our democratic fundamental right to pick those who represent us, some people can make the process really ugly. Finger pointing. Labelling. Accusations. Tribalism.
None of that stuff helps us as people, professionals, parents or partners. A 2024 survey by Time Magazine in fact found that 73% of US adults experienced heightened stress related to the presidential race, with many reporting feelings of exhaustion and anger.
Feel however you want politically, I support your right to do so. I even support your choice to not feel anything at all if you’ve made that one too. As parents, we have to realize and believe that we are all in this together, regardless of who wins and loses elections. Your kids don’t understand or care as to who voted for whom, or why they did it. They want to feel safe, feel loved, and be supported in their journey of learning how the world works and finding their place in it.
Who your neighbour across the street voted for doesn’t matter nearly as much as them slowing right down on their drive home from work when your kids are playing outside, or them complimenting your child’s costume they worked so hard on with you. We can build the London, Ontario, and Canada we all want and need when we find reasons to work together and cheer each other on. Elections happen. Someone wins. Someone loses. Our kids still need love, happiness, and hope for a better future.
Jeremy McCall is a married father of 3, a social services case manager, and known as “The Dadfather”, being the founder and Past President of Dad Club London.
