Get Out the Vote

I have never been prouder of my mom.  Every day and when I say every day, I mean EVERY SINGLE DAY (what weekends?) she has been making calls all over the country for her party and candidates. And if you know my mom, she's not like me leaping all over the globe, and yet she feels so passionate about this election and her causes, that as much as talking to strangers every.single.day is out of her comfort zone, she is still doing it.

My daughter's 18th birthday is today. Boy is she glad to have made it to 18 in time. We recently got the text that her absentee ballot was mailed with two stamps on the envelope.#proudparents

The early voting lines have been crazy. Honestly though, when we waited last night I really didn't mind.  No civil unrest as people patiently waited over an hour to participate in their civil duty. I was the 2000th voter in our polling place.  Wouldn't it have been cool to be two people behind and get Tari's birth year?

I've been sprinkling some Election Day talk into my lessons with K/1.  One of my very favorite voting books is Vote for Me by Ben Clanton. A donkey and elephant are vying for your vote and it even gets a bit nasty. When I was in kindergarten I'm sure I couldn't tell you who was president. But these kids are in the know.  "We're voting for president and it's Donald Trump vs. Joe Biden," exclaimed one little girl.  "Vote for Joe Biden because he tells you to wear a mask," exclaimed another.  Ohhh-kay, I nodded and quickly moved the conversation back to being nonpartisan.

Today a first grader asked me who I voted for. "That's very private. You don't have to share that information with anyone." I said.  We read Vote for Our Future by Magaret McNamara and illustrated by Micah Player.  I had just enough time to hand out, fold and color these thank you cards.

But wait there's more: This summer the YA romcom, The Voting Booth, by Brandy Colbert was released.  I rushed listened to it in one day in preparation for a Crowdcast event she was in. Waiting in line to vote and hearing my mom's stories about how she asks people about their plans to vote, I can't help to think back to July when I read this book.  It's my kind of romance mixed up with advocacy.  Thinking about it now makes me realize I miss my YA character crushes.  Who you got for me, Alicia?

A blast into the past: Two years ago, the 4th grade Social Studies teacher and I worked for weeks on an Election Day/Voting  project.  We researched the Constitution, met elected officials, handed out postcards and made a short video encouraging our community to vote.  I found the video and still love it today:

Let your voice be heard. Vote on or before Tuesday.  Oh, and if you happen to get a call from a lovely woman asking you for your voting plan, please tell my mom I said hello and I love her. Thanks 😉