Morning breaks

I’m feeling really, really happy right now. Of course, last night was full of serious discussion with Sam, whose school had a mock election and who came home on a bus with kids hanging out of every window, shrieking for Obama. Apparently, Sam got confused and when the announcements at the end of the day declared Obama to have won at his school, he thought that they were referring to the actual voter polling that was happening in the gym. He was overjoyed, and I felt sort of bad having to tell him that there was no actual news from the polls yet.

Then we talked electoral college, exit polling, and about how you don’t just vote for a candidate because everybody says that they’re cool. He got embarrassed about that and about not being able to come up with any other immediate (and valid) reasons for his preference, but I reassured him that this is why seven-year-olds don’t have the vote. You’ll have time to learn, Son, and I have faith that by eighteen, you’ll be safe to be let loose upon the democratic process. (Dunno about Gabe, though. That jury’s still out.)

Sam’s having a sensitive health issue he’d probably rather I not discuss (not that he has any compunctions about bringing it up in mixed company himself…), so I’ve got to pick him up from school at recess to get him to the doctor. Hopefully, that won’t go poorly and will be minimally invasive; he does his best to cooperate, but I don’t like to test that too far, remembering the blood draw of several months ago, when he bolted from the room and had to be chased across the building.