Democracy in Action

ELECTION DAY: Today, FINALLY, it was election day. Time to decide who will be our president for the next four years, along with U.S. Senate and House races, state reps and ballot initiatives.

Of course, my answer for everything is "Make cookies!" and so we found some Demo donkey and GOP elephant icons online and I cut their shapes out by hand and baked 'em up.

And then they got the "royal" treatment - as in royal icing.

We also made some Americas, a couple of t-shirts and a pair of signs. Those were fondant topped, and decorated with edible ink. 

Our dinner was built around the election. We had hot dogs (as a nod to Chicago, Obama's neighborhood), topped with Bald Eagle Sauce (how American does THAT sound?). It's really more of a relish, and it's a taste sensation we saw on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives. On the side, Boston baked beans (a nod to Romney's former governorship of Massachusetts). Those were tasty, too, thanks to a great recipe for John Adams Quick & Easy baked beans I found on a blog called The History Chef. 

In the spirit of election day, this afternoon, I asked the kids to come up with a ballot of their own, They picked categories and I asked them each to come up with four 'candidates' per category. Here's what they generated. ...

FAVORITE RESTAURANT
1.      Laredos
2.      Mcmenamin's
3.      Hattie’s Hat
4.      Nickerson Street Saloon

FAVORITE VIDEO GAME COMPANY
1.      Nintendo
2.      Sega
3.      Capcom
4.      Konami

FAVORITE MOVIE
1.      Star wars: Episode 4: A New Hope
2.      The Lion King
3.      Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone
4.      The Dark Knight Rises

FAVORITE TV CHANNEL
1.      The Hub
2.      Disney channel
3.      Nick
4.      Kiro 7 news

FAVORITE FUN SPOT
1.      Bayview
2.      Hilltop play park
3.      iFLY
4.      Disney World

FAVORITE CARTOON CHARACTER
1.      Felix the Cat
2.      Dora the Explorer
3.      Spongebob Squarepants
4.      Cartman

This evening, as we watched election returns, we cast our ballots. When all six votes were counted (Rick and Ken were here), the results were as follows:  Restaurant = Laredos; Video game company = Nintendo; Movie = Star Wars; TV channel = KIRO 7; Favorite fun spot - Disney World; Cartoon character - Spongebob.

Earlier than we thought we'd know, the networks (yes, plural) we were watching projected Obama the winner. Four more years. "He's been president half my life," Annabelle astutely pointed out. Looks like he's going to be president for 2/3 of her life by the time she's 12.

KERFUFFLE: We made a quick stop in Goodwill today in hopes of finding CJ the perfect mug with which to sample rootbeer for his Rootbeer Kid blog. Happily, Annabelle spied a mug in short order.

I asked the kids if they wanted to check out the toy aisle, too. Of course, the answer was 'yes.' So as they're looking at the toys, I told them I was going to look at men's shoes - which was 7.5 feet from where they were, in full line of vision. Except, I turned my back for 15 seconds.

By the time I turn back around and take two steps toward them, I hear CJ grousing about a child's "bleak future" and someone's "lack of parenting skills."

Uh oh.

At that, a woman with a 3 or so year old in her cart says to me, "My son accidentally hit your daughter."

Oh really? I pictured him accidentally clipping her with a toy sword or something.

Annabelle's not bruised or crying or anything so we just leave the aisle. As we're walking to the registers I ask the kids what happened. Annabelle tells me (and CJ confirmed) the boy slapped her on the head while she was just standing there, looking at games.

She said CJ got upset (which CJ confirms) and that he said something to the kid along the lines of "Don't hurt my sister" in probably a not-too-friendly voice, I'm guessing.

The kids told me the mother tried to explain that Annabelle got "too close" to her son and that he doesn't like people around him. OK ... Clearly her kid smacking Annabelle upside the head unprovoked is somehow her fault. She should have known the kid was so mercurial, apparently. But it gets better. Apparently the mother asked (not ordered or instructed, but asked her kid to apologize to Annabelle and CJ. So what did the kid do? He said no. Over and over, the kids tell me.

Given that, I have to agree with CJ. "bleak future" and "lack of parenting skills." As CJ's recounting this he says to me, "Say that kid's 18 and hauls off and hits someone in Goodwill. Then he's going to JAIL!"

Excellent point, CJ. And perhaps then his mother will wish she hadn't raised a child with no rules and no understanding of right and wrong, not to mention no remorse.