Blessed Are the Pure in Heart

I have re-newed my vow that I must not become swept away by the current of all I have to do, and I am trying to both take my lunch break and blog a little more.  Or at least try to capture the moments of life I actually notice.

Anna has always been an entertaining election day companion, as evidenced in the previous post.  This goes beyond wearing a "Free Myrtle" t-shirt to the polls.  (Aside: one of the kids at school thought she was referring to Moaning Myrtle of the deserted girls bathroom at Hogwarts. Jeff asked if anyone inquired about what "Free Myrtle" meant.  She replied, "Well, so-and-so thought it meant Moaning Myrtle," she tossed her hair, "but I told him no - it was an inside family joke!")

When I told her that she was accompanying me to our polling station she responded,"Well, I will go with you but I am not voting there.  I am voting at school."  No amount of explaining convinced her that her vote does not officially count until she's 18.  (Which MOLLY will be the next presidential election?!) She was an angel when I was voting, but did loudly exclaim "Where are the levers?" She was under the impression that we still had the voting machines with the levers. 

She had previously told us that she was voting for Barak Obama, but when I asked her why, she said that the reasons people vote are private.  Interestingly, Jeff and I believe exactly the opposite of Anna's stance. Hold your parenting advice please: we believe in not telling our children who we vote for but in discussing the pros and cons of voting for each candidate in the selection.  The idea is that they not form political opinions just because we say so, but so that they can learn to reason for themselves.

Jeff could not have had a better present than his birthday falling on a close presidential election.  The girls and I made him all of his favorite appetizer-type food and he watched election coverage long into the night.  Anna wandered in and out of the room where we and our food were stationed in front of the TV all evening.  At one point, cuddled up next to me on the couch, she whispered, "I am ready to tell you why I voted for Barak Obama."

"Ok," I said, in what I hoped was not a betrayingly eager tone. She's had all kinds of discussions about Health Care with anyone from her peers to her grandparents, so I was expecting a related explanation.

She said, "I thought about Sasha and Malia and how the White House probably feels like their home after four years and how they might have to move again and change schools and leave all of their friends.  So I voted for Barak Obama because I wanted them to be able to stay in their house and with their friends at school."