I surprised Emma by getting her out of school yesterday to go vote with me. I thought I'd have to talk the office ladies into letting me have her, but they seemed really excited and impressed that I would let her see how the process works.
While I've heard stories of crazy-long lines, and multi-hour waits, there were only a few voters at our location in the middle of the day, so we were in and out in a matter of minutes. I wanted to get a picture of Emma turning in my ballot, but they tend to frown upon things like cameras at polling stations.
Before going back to school, we took a quick detour to Starbucks, since they were giving away these cool bracelets. So patriotic.
I might have shared a sip or two of my coffee...
The caffeine and sugar only affected her a little bit. I'm sure her teachers could handle it.
I'll have to brainstorm to come up with some other school-office-approved-midday outings. I miss them so much when they are there all day!
After school, when Ethan found out I'd taken Emma on a field trip, he felt scandalized. I cheered him up with a project I had set up for them both.
I found a map online that was complete with electoral college points. During the election coverage, I gave Emma a red pencil, Ethan a blue, and set them to work keeping track of the votes as they became official.
This way they felt completely engrossed in the outcome of the election. They weren't able to stay awake for the end, but when they woke up this morning, they were both curious to hear what the result was.
I don't believe in involving children in the grown-up politics and emotions of the presidential election, so I didn't make any big deal about which side I was going for, but it was fun for them to feel connected to it, and get an art project in at the same time.
Next time I might have them add up the electoral votes while they color.
