I took my three year old daughter with me when I voted yesterday in Atlanta’s run-off election. For my daughter, it did not prove to be the cheerful introduction to democracy I had hoped it would be.
She cried, rubbed her eyes, and wailed, “I’m tired!” It was 2 PM.
Or I should say, it was 7 PM UK time. We had arrived back in Atlanta after a nine hour flight, and a two hour ordeal at the airport, at about 9 PM. That, of course, felt like 2 AM, after a week in the UK, which is five hours ahead of Eastern Standard Time.
But I realize that children are a bit more resilient than adults are in time zone changes. While I resisted the urge to rub my eyes and cry as I lifted the stroller up the stairs of the school that was serving as our polling station, I was tired enough to throw a massive temper tantrum.
And after just a day of crankiness, both kids seem to have bounced back entirely. It will take me about a week.
Reverse Culture Shock 
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