Did it matter?

Yesterday Brent and I chose to participate in a grass roots protest against the California Teacher's Association.  They donated 1.25 million dollars of California teacher's dues (and ultimately my tax dollars) to support the defeat of proposition 8.  We are in support of proposition 8 and therefore kept our kids home from school in an effort to make our voices heard.  The hope was that if enough parents participated, the financial impact this caused the schools would somehow pinch the CTA and show them our disapproval.  Honestly, I have no idea if it worked.  I second guessed myself all day.  The CTA is an enormous organization and the money I cost my school will probably just mean we get one less hole punch next year.  It's hard to know just how to make a difference and at times my efforts seem futile at best.  I felt this way all day.  Until we tucked the kids into bed last night.  I have tried to talk to them about prop 8 and gay marriage several times and I'm never quite sure the  message I mean to send is getting across.  Am I saying too much to them?  Not enough?  Do they understand that we support a righteous cause but also respect and treat kindly those who disagree?  Even though many of those people openly hate and despise us for our beliefs? (Sorry, another post for another day.  In case your wondering, it's getting pretty rough here in So. Cal.) But keeping them home from school affected their world to a degree that I know they finally got it.  So did my efforts yesterday matter?  Probably not to the CTA.  But it did matter to my children.  They saw their parents stand for something.  And by allowing them the choice to stay home or not, they felt like they were standing for something too.