And felt a sense of pride that Barack Obama was elected President last night. I’m not going to lie and say I voted for him because, I didn’t. My candidate was John McCain and I was proud last night to have voted for him. He showed incredible grace in the face of defeat and he illustrated all the things I held him to be in that moment. At the same time, I truly was glad that Obama won the election. It says so many things about us as a nation, that we are in a place where someone like Obama can be chosen overwhelmingly by the people in America to represent them. It was an amazing moment and I was moved to tears by his win. Seeing him on stage with his family was an awe-inspiring sight and I’m glad something this monumental happened in my lifetime and my children’s lifetime. I’m glad I’m old enough to appreciate the struggle our nation has gone through to get to this point and am hopeful that I can instill in my children just how important this victory is.
We all stayed up late last night. 🙂 The kids are still sleeping and right now I wish I were, too, but my day has other plans for me. Right now I’m waiting on the cable company to come out and check our lines. Exciting, right? It’s rainy here today so I think we’re going to make some cookies and do some housecleaning. Even more exciting!! Now that halloween has passed, it seems like the rest of the holidays are quickly moving forward. Does it feel that way to you? We host Christmas Day dinner here at our house and I have no doubt it is going to take me that long to get the house straightened up. LOL I did a bit of that yesterday and feel like I can get the rest of the downstairs finished today. I do hate to clean though and wish I could afford a cleaning service. Of course, we’d have to get the house clean enough for them to come in here anyway so what would be the point?
I haven’t spoken much about unschooling here lately and perhaps that is because it has become such a part of our lives that I don’t think about it like I used to. Every once in a while though, something strikes me and I feel compelled to mention it. Last night Ryan was having a conversation with my husband, Sean, and it caught my ear. Apparently, Ryan and Iain had been discussing their age difference and Ryan started calculating his age at different stages of Iain’s life:
Ryan: Dada, when I’m 7, Iain will be 10. Did you know that?
Sean: I did, Ryan but that’s great that you figured that out!
Ryan: Dada, when I’m 13, Iain will be 16!
And the numbers kept climbing. It was interesting to hear him tabulate their ages in the future and it made both Sean and me smile.
As with all children, the boys interests in things ebb and flow and they have recently rediscovered a passion for Tony Hawk and skateboarding. Here are a few pics of them performing some “tricks” for me on our patio. Before anyone gets upset that they’re not wearing any gear, let me say that they were just flipping their boards, standing on them, and showing me how “real” skaters carry their boards around. I don’t want any angry comments telling me my kids are being unsafe. 🙂
I also wanted to let you all know that since I got a new camera for my birthday, I’m selling my other one on ebay along with a bunch of gear that is a perfect starter kit for anyone looking to get into photography. If you or anyone you know is interested in a camera and all the necessary gear to go along with it, check out my auction here:
I have pics of everything here. It’s a really good deal for all of that stuff!
How late were you up last night? Were your children excited to be a part of the process? Do you have Kid Voting where you live? My boys were thrilled to be able to vote. Ryan voted for Luigi for President, hee, hee!
Son – not very interested and scary to think he will be voting in the next presidential election. My daughter was very into it. I took her with me to vote. She thought a lot about the candidates and did Kids Voting. In the last week or so she was upset over the negative ads especially Dole’s Godless claim against Kay Hagan. Suddenly Catherine became a big Hagan supporter and was glad to see Hagan won so early last night. She (and I) voted for Obama. Yesterday C was around a few very conservative Christians who make a comment “at least your vote won’t count” when they learned who she voted for in the presidential election. I replied “yeah but mine does”. Normally I have respect for both sides. My husband and I more times than not cancel each other out but to talk to a child that way was wrong.
Joan, are you saying that adults made those comments to your child??? WTH? Good for you in standing up for her. Why do people feel a need to discount the opinions of children and treat them like they are audacious for having an opinion at all. I just don’t get that. Like your daughter, I was also incredibly offended by Elizabeth Dole’s ad and sent her an email telling her so in the most colorful terms I could muster without being offensive in return. I was disappointed with Kay Hagan’s response as well though, as if there is something wrong with being an athiest. I was with C last night though, cheering the fact that Elizabeth Dole was defeated. We don’t need those kinds of divisive politicians representing us.
This has been an exciting election! Iain was thrilled that Obama won, in spite of the face that he had encouraged me to vote for McCain. We voted solely on the issue of homeschooling because despite repeated attempts to get information from Obama’s campaign and supporters, we never got a direct answer on where he stands with homeschooling. Everyone just told us how he wants to reform public schools and begin preschool education at birth. At any rate, what a great example this election has been to show young people around the world that their votes and voices do indeed matter!
I applaud your gracious remarks regarding the presidential election outcome. If you’ve visited my blog at all lately you’ll know who I voted for. ;D We attended a family election party last night. It was much more upbeat and fun than the last one we attended. Both my kids have been pretty interested in the election this year. Zach wishes he were just a few months older so that he could’ve voted. Zoe was particularly annoyed by dueling yard-signs around our town. I have an “all is well” feeling that I hope sticks around for a long time.
Peace.
Chris, thanks for your comment! I was really torn about which candidate to vote for and seriously didn’t make up my mind until Iain and I walked into the booth. I let him decide who it was going to be and knew I would be pleased with the outcome either way. I’m hopeful the Dems can uphold their promises to make things better. I don’t want them to fail.
The “all is well” feeling that you describe is permeating the air here as well. I am hopeful that for a while we will all get along in the spirit of patriotism. There has been such a schism here and my fingers are crossed that Obama can bridge that gap.
Isn’t it so exciting to see our kids getting interested in the election process? I’m glad you guys enjoyed your party. I’m sure it’s much more fun when your candidate wins. 😉
thanks for stopping by for a visit!
Chloe was way into the actual voting cause she went with me. Caleb and Catelynn didn’t get into it until pretty late last night. We really enjoyed McCain’s speech and couldn’t even think about going to bed until after Obama’s. It was such an exciting night, I’m still riding around on the high from it all.
It is a high isn’t it? I know the feel-goodness will wear away eventually but for now it’s nice!
I’ve had to remind the 17 yr old girl who still insists on debating me (though I prefer to keep it on the level of *discussion* vs debate) that I don’t agree 100% with Obama, namely his education policy. But I won’t agree with the educ policy of either major party so it doesn’t factor as heavily in my decision. We have a HUGE grassroots movement in our state to stay on top of any educational legislation that affects homeschoolers and comes down the pipe. And it isn’t HSLDA (ug – don’t get me started on them) – it’s passionate non-sectarian people who volunteer to do it. So I feel pretty safe there.