The kids and I got home right before 5, grabbed some pillows and plopped down in the den to watch Obama’s Dec.1 speech about his plan for Afghanistan.

It felt as if it was an every day occurrence rather than something that has only happened a handful of times.

We are basically a non-TV household, which led me to believe we are therefore a media and political-free household. But I was wrong.

“Why are those people all wearing grey?” my son asked immediately.

“They’re in school training to be in the army,” I replied.

“But I saw a woman. Women can’t be in the army.”

“Yes, they can.”

“You said women never start wars and people in the army fight in wars.”

“Uh… that’s generally true. But women want the right to be in the army as well.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know. Shhh, let’s listen.”

One minute later he asked, “How did the men use the planes to kill so many people?”

“Remember how I told you about the airplanes being full of gas and then flying into the World Trade Center? That’s how.”

“Is that going to happen again?”

“I hope not. That’s what Obama is saying he is trying to prevent.”

“How could …"

“Shhhh.”

Two minutes later my daughter asked, “Why does he keep talking about Vietnam?”

“We were involved in a war there and some people think it’s similar to the war in Afghanistan.”

“Did we win?” my son wants to know.

“Depends on who you ask.”

“Do you think we won?”

“I think everyone loses when so many people are killed.”

“Are we winning in Afghanistan?”

“No. Shhhh.”

When your kids are this inquisitive, and my kids don’t experience anything without asking 1,001 questions, there is no avoiding the political.

Even a simple trip to the grocery store turns into a discussion about what pesticides are, the difference between organic farming practices and GMO foods, farm raised versus wild caught salmon, and talks about money and budgets.

And although my kids’ television watching has been limited to the occasional National Geographic video and Obama’s inaugural speech, we do listen to NPR and we listen to music constantly. Not Raffi, Barney or Elmo, but adult music.

And, with adult indie rock music comes complicated stories and, therefore, many, many questions.

One of my kids’ favorite CDs is the Mountain Goats’ "The Sunset Tree," an album full of stories about singer John Darnielle’s abusive stepfather.

“Why is he afraid he is going to break his stereo?” my daughter asks, leading us to a discussion about alcoholism and child abuse.

After hearing “I’m Bound to Pack it Up” by White Stripes, “The Line,” by Black Rebel Motorcycle or a variety of songs by Elbow, we have various talks about the complexities of love and relationships, and the fact that sometimes even when you love someone, you need to leave.

Propagating my myth that I am sheltering my kids was the fact that I send them to an alternative school where commercialization (a.k.a. anything related to Disney) is frowned upon, and students learn how to write and read a report way before they learn how to turn on a computer.

On the first day of school, each grade is taught a version of the Big Bang Theory, and every day the kids are able to explore a topic for as long as they want and ask as many questions as they want.

So, in reality they’re not sheltered at all. The Big Bang alone opens up topics of various religious beliefs about evolution and how these differing opinions often lead to conflicts, and before I know it we are talking about the witch trials.

And, it’s not only the content of what they are taught at school that can turn political, it’s their interactions with the other kids.

My 4-year-old daughter announced the other day that she wants to be a beautiful princess when she grows up.

“Where did you get that idea?” I nearly shouted.

“From Lela at school.”

“You are pretty honey. You’re beautiful, but you are also smart, creative and very funny. Everyone is smart in different ways, but sometimes when girls get older, they forget this about themselves and only worry about their looks. Or even worse, they try to pretend that they aren’t smart and…”

A 10-minute condensed version of Howard Gardner’s and Carol Gilligan’s life work followed.

On the way to school the next day, she announced her princess desire again.

“What kind of princess are you going to be?” I asked.

“A beautiful, smart princess!” she shouted.

My son and I cheered her on and then went back to listening to NPR. Or rather, I tried to listen while fielding, “What’s an oil rig do?,” “”Why does he keep talking about a recession?” and “Why would someone kill policemen?” questions.

But just like with the Obama speech, I heard what I needed to hear.

Corbin Lewars (www.corbinlewars.com) is the founder of Reality Mom (www.realitymomzine.blogspot.com), author of "Creating a Life "(Catalyst Book Press, 2010) and the sexy mommy-lit book "Swings" (out for submission). She lives in Ballard with her two children.