There is no other way to put it: My kids are political animals. I don't know if it's the general entertainment factor of the current presidential campaign or a genetic predisposition for the political, but they are enthralled with the entire process. I wasn't going to talk politics because I like to focus on the lighthearted aspects of our lives, but since this has been the talk of our household for the past few weeks, I am out of other material.

How bad is their obsession? The other night, the Wonderful Husband was engaged in the ongoing home renovation project and I had to attend a school meeting. The kids were left to their own devices for the better part of an hour. With homework completed, various musical instruments practiced, and rooms relatively cleaned, and TV privilege suspended for some infraction, they were forced to create their own entertainment. When I arrived home, I was invited to witness the play they planned: A re-creation of the presidential debates. A served as the moderator. I guess being a big brother has prepared him well for the role. G performed an eerily accurate caricature of Donald Trump, and of course, it fell to E to represent Hillary Clinton.Let me set the scene for you. Our living room. The kids built podiums for themselves out of giant foam blocks that they've had since they were toddlers. They then rigged up fake microphones using a set of cap gun toy rifles. I have to say, it was rather genius and looked quite authentic as the angled stock set the thin, black barrels at the perfect microphone angle.The kids started their play with a simple regurgitation of what they'd already seen and heard on the TV, at least the parts that were appropriate for them to watch. I know my kids don't have a terrific grasp of the meanings behind the things they were saying, but they certainly had all the catchphrases down. Benghazi, emails, ISIS, build a wall, we'd heard it all before. G even punctuated his sentences with an overabundance of sniffles. However, things quickly devolved when G noticed that E had pulled up a chair and was sitting down behind her podium.He quickly unleashed a Trump-worthy tirade, attacking her for sitting down on the job. I was pleased to see her point out that nothing was stopping him from getting a chair as well, although she quickly turned on her own "nasty" side as well, and hit him with a few harsh retorts of her own. A, the big brother/moderator, also played his role to the max, eagerly smacking down his younger siblings as they got out of line or strayed from the questions he was asking. Eventually, their play devolved into an all-out sibling war and we had to bring it to a close.In the week following their dramatic production, they have been too eager to slip back into character to continue any and all debates. While I wholeheartedly support their interest and am glad than they're paying attention to things at a national level, I do worry about the examples that both of these candidates are setting for them. It bothers me that both of these candidates are well-known for lying and bullying, two behaviors that we work so hard to teach our children are wrong. It bothers me that phrases like "War on Terror" come so easily to my 6-year-old's lips. It bothers me that the 8-year-old boy parrots phrases like, "She's a dog!" It bothers me that the 10-year-old now has questions about nuclear weapons that remind me of my own childhood fears during the twilight of the Cold War.We've never shied away from political conversations in our house. The WH is a registered Republican and I am a registered Democrat. We have lots of different opinions, but we have tried very hard to be respectful to each other. We try to make informed decisions at election time, based on candidates and issues, not just party lines, and we try to encourage the kids to develop their own opinions, and argue to support them, as well.Following Sandy Hook, the ever-logical A, who is also very cut and dried when it comes to right and wrong, made the statement that he thought that there should be more rules about how people use guns, and who can buy what kinds of guns. He eloquently used the examples of our own household rules concerning gun use and care to make his point that guns can be used properly and correctly, when needed, and outlined a plan for gun control that probably had Charlton Heston spinning in his grave. His line of reasoning did meet a roadblock when the WH asked him what he would do about people who didn't follow the rules. His 6-year-old mind couldn't quite comprehend why someone wouldn't follow a rule, if it was the right thing to do, but it was a learning experience for all of us in how to have a difficult discussion and be respectful to each other through our disagreements.As happy as I am with the kids' interest in our government and politics, I just wish that it was a cleaner, more respectful campaign and election for them to follow. I certainly don't even want to think of my sons in a locker room, discussing situations in ways they have been discussed in the past few months. I'm sorry that the first female candidate and potential future president does not appear to be an ideal role model for my own daughter.At any rate, Election Day will be here shortly. I think G has made one of the truest observations to date. During one of the debates, when the candidates were accusing each other of being puppets, G observed that a real puppet would probably be a better president than either of these two. Given the fact that the two most popular puppets in his life are Kermit the Frog and Pinocchio, he may be on to something.Liz Pinkey is a contributing writer to the Times News. Her column appears weekly in our Saturday feature section.