Avoiding politics at home

This weekend, after the boys were "asleep," I sat down to work on some homework (which is what I'm supposed to be doing right now). I grabbed a glass of wine and snuggled up with my Kindle to read all about Community Colleges. Exciting, right?

I didn't hear him come downstairs, but Nickolas tip-toed to the edge of the family room and just stared at me. I asked him, "what's up, buddy?" He said, "I can't sleep, momma. I just keep thinking." I think he knows I'm a sucker for that line. So I made room on my lap for him and we had a long talk. Here's how it went (for the most part):

• Me: So what are you thinking about?
• Nick: Sometimes I have bad dreams about people I don't know. You and daddy aren't there...in my dreams. Why aren't you there?
• Me: Nick, we're always here.
• Nick: But not in my dreams you're not. There are scary people.
• Me: Who are the scary people, bud?
• Nick: I don't know them. They take my things away and they chase me.
• Me: (Thinking, "crap, we haven't talked about socialists since the election...crap...what's coming up...). Well, are they kids in your school?
• Nick: No, they are adults. Not kids. The kids at my school are my friends.
• Me: That's true. So what do the adults look like?
• Nick: Well, I don't know. They just keep trying to take my money. But I want to buy Hot Wheels with my money and I want a new Hot Wheels sets (sic).
• Me: Okay, so keep saving up your money and we'll get you one, okay?
• Nick: But momma, I don't want Barack Obama to be our president because he'll come to Target and take my money. I'm gonna leave my money at home so he can't get it from me. And then I won't be able to get any Hot Wheels or Thomas trains because I won't have any money because I don't want Barack Obama to take it from me when I go to Target (yes, it was a run-on sentence like that).
• Me: (Thinkin, "how in the world did he remember that? I haven't even been listening to much talk radio around him since he cried at ROMNEY losing the primaries!"). Nickolas, you will NEVER, EVER see Barack Obama, so you don't have to worry about him taking your money away.
• Nick: But he is a socialisp and he's gonna come to take my money away.
• Me: That's not quite how it works, Nick. Socialists don't take it from you. They tax us on the money we earn.

Long pause. LONG sip of wine.

• Nick: Mom, maybe when your work gives you money you should just bring it home and put it in a train bank like I do. That way they can't go to the bank and take it from you. You just put it in a train bank.
• Me: (Thinking, "seriously? You're four and you're planning my finances."). That's a good idea, Nick, but there aren't any socialists at the bank, either, buddy. We will never see them. They make laws that tell my boss to take away some of my money and give it back to them. So, if I earned $10, the socialists would tell Miss JE to give me only $5 and send the rest to them. They don't actually come to my work and take it, and they aren't going to be at Target to take our money, either.
• Nick: Yeah, but, well, you don't take your money to the bank, mommy.

I don't remember how the conversation ended, but I did try to get out of it. It was so sad to hear him worry about money. At one point, he told me that he was afraid the "socialisps" would take our money and that we wouldn't be able to pay for our house or Huck (that's what the boys call my car).

We sat there for about 40 minutes. Finally, he was ready to talk about trains and then I took him up to bed.