Fifth-grader Samantha Eberly, her third-grade brother Mason and their guinea pig Ginger campaign for strong public schools.

You can’t hide from politics! You may think that with the flick of a switch, you can just turn off those blaring ads over the airwaves, those fired-up pundits protecting their turf on cable networks and talk radio, and those hopeful candidates trying to find favor from the rest of us before Nov. 8.

But, even with the noise turned off, your family unit is no doubt comprised of some very clever political movers and shakers. I’ll show you what I mean with this fun little exercise that I presented in this column during the presidential election eight years ago. See if you relate.

Q: When the World Series goes into extra innings past the kids’ bedtime, do they go to the “baseball fan” parent for the extended-hour exception?

If so, there’s probably some interest-group politics going on in your home.

Q: When your son comes home with a few scrapes and bruises and a convincing story about what happened on the playground during recess, are you surprised to get a call from the principal’s office the next day, only to discover that he may have left out some of the relevant facts?

Hmm, sounds like pint-size political spin to me.

Q: Or, when you are driving a vehicle full of kids after a victorious soccer game, has their backseat vote for a stop at the Dairy Queen convincingly overturned your decision to take them directly home?

Now, that’s effective lobbying. And if they pooled extra quarters to buy you a chocolate sundae for the favor, it might smack of bribery!

These true-to-life scenarios got me thinking that there might be an ever-present political bug in all of us. As parents and teachers, we can use the remaining political season to set an example of good citizenship for young politicians-in-training.

Our nation’s kids will be future voters and possibly candidates, and while we may feel like turning our backs on much of the hoopla right now as we tire of seeing candidates spouting and sometimes pouting like kids in adult bodies, the issues facing our country are serious matters and are worthy of our reflection and discussion around the dinner table.

So turn off the media chatter, and tune in to your own family conversations; you’ll find opportunities to talk about the issues that affect your family, community and our world.

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Donna Erickson’s award-winning series “Donna’s Day” is airing on public television nationwide. To find more of her creative family recipes and activities, visit www.donnasday.com and link to the NEW Donna’s Day Facebook fan page. Her latest book is “Donna Erickson’s Fabulous Funstuff for Families.”  

© 2016 Donna Erickson

Distributed by King Features Syndicate