What Do We Tell The Children About Donald Trump Winning The Election?

I've seen several people -- even a Huffington Post article -- posing the question of how to explain to children the outcome of this election.

Trump has been called a bully, bigot, sexist, misogynist, etc... how could he be our President?

Prior to the election, my 9 year old told me that she didn't like Trump.  I asked her why.  She said because her friend told her that he would start World War III.

Regardless of their reasoning, many, many kids have been conditioned over the past year to believe that Trump should not be President.  So, how did it happen, and how do we explain to our kids that, despite all they've heard -- maybe even from us -- that people wanted him to be President?

I told my daughter that there were four candidates and that there would probably be things about each of them that we like and there would probably be things about each of them that we don't like, and that when it came time to cast a vote, we would just have to decide which candidate makes the most sense for us personally.  It doesn't mean we like everything about them or agree with them about everything.

That was my approach.  But even better than that explanation, is the one that my school teacher friend shared.

"New day.

If you voted for Donald Trump, you are...
Still my neighbor, my friend, my family.
Still a human being deserving respectful treatment.
Most likely not a bigot, a racist, or a misogynist (or any of the other things Trump has been called, whether they are true or not) but are fed up with the state of our corrupt political system.
As worthy of kindness as anyone else.

If you voted for Clinton, you are...
Still my neighbor, my friend, my family.
Still a human being deserving of respectful treatment.
Most likely not corrupt, murderous, or dishonest (or any of the other things Clinton has been called, whether they are true or not) but are concerned about social equality issues.
As worthy of kindness as anyone else.

If you voted third party, you are...
Still my neighbor, my friend, my family.
Still a human being deserving of respectful treatment.
Not directly responsible for the outcome of this election, no matter what people say (you voted for who you believed in and not all the votes would have went to Hillary as to change the outcome anyhow).
As worthy of kindness as anyone else.

If you didn't vote, you are...
Still my neighbor, my friend, my family.
Still a human being deserving of respectful treatment.
Most likely not stupid or lazy (you may have had a good reason for abstaining, and that's no one's business but yours).
As worthy of kindness as anyone else.

See how much we all still have on common."

She didn't write it -- not sure who did -- but I agree with it 1,000%, and I think it's a fabulous way to approach the days to come for all of us, kids and adults.

To bring the point home, my friend played for her students a YouTube video of puppies and kittens and said "we all, at our core... love puppies and kittens. Let's laugh together."