Introduction to Democracy

  Today Benjamin learned about what makes this country great. Today he watched Daddy vote in the 2008 Presidential Elections. In Florida we started early voting last Monday and ever since the news has talked about the record turnout at the polls.

  This morning I gave Benjamin a very brief Civics 101 course while he drank his first bottle. I told him about term lengths for our elected officials and why it was important for citizens to participate in the democratic process. He just looked at me and probably wondered why Daddy still had a piece of oatmeal stuck on his cheek.

  I told him how his mother got her undergraduate degree in political science and that she was fascinated with how the U.S. and state governments worked. I also informed him that if he ever had any questions with regards to names of certain Congressmen or Presidents in our nations history he'd better block out a couple weeks if he ever asked Uncle Ron. (It may take a while. TRUST ME!! We all speak from experience.)

  I chose to early vote at the West Oaks Library a few miles from our house. Luckily our neighbor Kelly had decided to take Bella to vote at the same time. This came in handy as it took an hour and a half to make it to a voting booth.

  Once we made it from the parking lot inside the library Benjamin wanted to run around. He couldn't stand being in my arms any longer. So off he went screaming down the stacks. (Apparently the librarians waived the whole no talking policy.)

  So here I was in our little voting booth holding Benjamin in one arm and making sure to bubble in my votes correctly (Let's not revisit the whole hanging chad portion of Florida's history.) with my other arm. He could've cared less who I was voting for in the hotly contested Orange County Soil Conservation race. In fact, he kept grabbing for the partition between us and the gentleman voting next to us.

  We turned in my ballot and got our "I Voted" stickers and headed for the door. I held great pride in showing my son one of our country's highest responsibilities. I can remember going with my mother to the Temple Terrace City Hall and watching her vote. It was a very cool feeling to now be doing it with my son... oh crap he just spit up in the library. Now what did I do with those wipes?