Election Day

It's always really fun to try to drag my children away from the t.v. to go on errands that they are totally uninterested in. Okay, maybe not. A bigger challenge is to get them to cooperate when they don't even understand where we are going. So yesterday, when I was trying to convince them that they needed to get their shoes on and come with me so I could go vote, they probably asked me over a hundred times what we were really doing. It's really difficult to explain to a 4-yr-old and a 2-yr-old what it means to go vote, but they kept asking, so I just told them pretty straightforward - I had to go somewhere to let people know who I want our leaders to be. Of course, this just confused them more, and they just asked more questions. All along, I was trying to force shoes on their feet, getting people on and off the toilet, etc, etc.

So, finally we got to the elementary school where the voting was taking place. It was not bad at all, we probably got in and out in about 10 minutes. As we were leaving the gymnasium, Natalie excitedly asked, "That's it?" I was happy to tell her that it was and now we could go home. Suddenly Ava's lower lip turned down and her eyes opened up wide in that heartbroken face only she can make. Sure enough, the tears followed quickly as she exclaimed, "but we didn't get to go on the boat!" Poor thing, she had gotten herself all geared up for a boat ride! (Not quite the same as a vote-ride!)