Tears all Around

Day after Election Day. I watch the morning shows to get the full effect of the tears, and they make me well up with tears. Although I did not vote for the man who eventually won, I'm happy for him and I'm happy for the people who have felt oppressed for so long. It is historic. It means something to so many people. I'm not much of a political person, I don't really care too much who leads our country. I wasn't too thrilled to vote for who I voted for, but there are a few issues that actually mean something to me, so I went with the person who believed in those same things.

It's kindof surprising and invigorating to see people all over the country, all over the world care who the president is, and shout for joy. He is an eloquent man, and I hope he can smooth some of the foreign wrinkles we've had with other countries. I do look forward to watching the beautiful Michelle Obama. I think she is a classy lady. The little girls will be thrown into the ringer, but having a young first family will be nice.

For some reason, the boys were really into the election. The kids at school were talking about it. Tyler came home asking if I liked a donkey or an elephant better. When I said elephant, he said, "You're voting for McCain!" Now that's funny (especially since I didn't know where he was going with it). Just because they heard other kids at school talk about it, who no doubt heard from their passionate parents, they wanted us to vote for McCain. We didn't have many discussions about it at home. I knew they'd be a tad disappointed this morning, but I told Tyler why it is a historic day for the African American people. Why he will still be a great president, even though he wasn't our first choice. I got emotional talking about how the African American people were treated 50 years ago. I didn't see it first hand, and even living in the south as a child, I didn't feel exposed to it. I never saw them differently myself. But I get it. I get why this means something, as it is starting to mean something to me.

So, hooray for something new, something different.

On a sad note, I was supposed to go on a field trip to the pumpkin patch today with Matthew and the kindergarten class. Alyssa was going to a friends house. Then Tyler woke up with a fever and headache. I had to tell Matthew I couldn't go and he sobbed and sobbed. It broke my heart, but I had to stay strong. I dropped him off at school crying, head hanging low. I'm sure he'll be stopped by 10 teachers before getting to class, and he'll have to explain it to them, crying through it all. I'm sad too. I called my friend who is going and asked her to give me an update on his demeanor. I'm sure he'll be ok, but I was looking forward to our one on one time.