I am completely geeked out on democracy right now. I fully anticipate spending tonight glued to the TV, waiting for election results. It is strange to remember the last presidential election. I was hugely pregnant and sick. I remember waking up in the middle of the night and flipping on the news to see if the election had been determined yet. When the results came in, I could not believe it. George Bush had been re-elected, and I knew only one person who was voting for him. I felt completely disconnected from so many other people in the country.
This year will be different. First and foremost, no matter what happens, I truly believe our president will be a good, smart person who will work hard to do what's best for America. I definitely don't agree with everything John McCain stands for, but I will not be upset if he wins. And I am filled with hope that Barack Obama will be our next president. I truly believe that he will do something special for our country.
I've spent the past few days talking to Jack about voting. I have tried to explain in the simplest possible terms what the president does and what an amazing thing it is to be part of choosing who has that job. We also talked about why it is an important thing to do. I had a mock vote about whether we should have chocolate or strawberry ice cream. Jack and I both voted for chocolate, and Steve wasn't paying attention. "See how Daddy didn't vote?" I asked. "If he wanted strawberry, he's out of luck now, isn't he?"
I took Jack with me to vote this morning. We waited in line for about half an hour, which pleases me. Not that we had to wait, but that voting was so important to so many people this election. In my county, 20% of eligible voters had already voted early, which is amazing. I held Jack up so he could watch as I marked my ballot. After we were finished, we both got "I Voted" stickers.
On the way to Grandma and Grandpa's house (and they will be taking Jack to vote with them later), Jack asked, "Mommy, how did you know that you wanted to vote for Mr. Obama instead of Mr. McCain?" I did my best to explain it in a way that a three-year-old would understand, but more than anything, I was proud of the fact that he asked the question.
6 comments:
I am totally going to be glued to the TV, too! I love watching the states light up with results. I have a 8 miler after work today but I'm going to be listening to talk radio and watching TV when I get home! (My husband and I were just talking about the last election this morning. We were both amazed the Bush won again. We're thinking the election was rigged... again!) I love how you involved Jack! That's such a smart question he asked. It's great to start him early. ;-)
We took our two to vote - they were so excited! My 5-year old's only concern was: "You're not going to vote for George Bush, are you?".
You described my feelings about this election well. Mostly, though, I'm impressed at Jack's probing question and polite language. What an incredible, historic first election for him to experience!
I remember my mom taking us to watch her vote. Hopefully Jack will remember that and it will remain important to him!
Wow! I'm impressed he asked that question. The only thing mine (the 4 y.o) said was "So Mom picked the winner and Dad picked the loser?" LMAO!
Hi Betsy
Donna and I took Aidan with us to vote and were so excited to do it. Like you, I felt really overwelmed and utterly defeated when Bush won in '04. But now that we have an Obama presidency I have to believe that it is all worth it going forward. If Kerry had won, I have to believe that the Republicans would have won this year and we would have never had a President Obama.
Anyway... best of luck with your running and chasing after Jack.
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