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I'm excited.

I'm excited today because I get to vote for my favorite candidate.

I'm excited because today I get to have a say in who my party's candidate will be.

I will proudly wear my "I Voted!" sticker with pride to remind others that today really is super.  Today is the kind of day that makes our country great.

It's easy to become apathetic about the whole process.  Thoughts of "my one vote won't matter" have crept into our heads at one time or another.  We're frustrated with the system.  We get tired of hearing lots of talk and seeing little action.  But today is the kind of day that brings refreshed hope that maybe, just maybe, change really will come...and I can say that I was a part of it.

I love that I live in a state that is participating in the Super Tuesday Presidential Primary Election.  As crazy as it will be (I just heard a report this morning that there are 700,000 newly registered voters in my state), I plan on taking the kids with me to vote.  They are both getting old enough to have lasting memories, and I would love for them to remember going with their mom to vote.  Among all of my other parental responsibilities, teaching my children about civic responsibilities is high on my list. 

The teacher in me is starting to show as I have thought about how to turn all of this into a civics lesson appropriate for a 3-year-old and an almost 6-year-old child.  The Cheese has already learned a little bit about George Washington, so I plan on talking a little about him.  I'll talk about how the people of our country get to choose who the next president will be and what a special thing that is.  

I even have a laminated placemat that has all of the president's pictures on it that I bought several years ago.  Tonight I'll be sure that it's on the table so I can use it to explain how we'll need to a new one because there will be a brand new president soon.  (The possibility of how different that new placemat will look--maybe a woman, maybe a black man--amazes and excites me.) 

I also have found some great books on the subject.  There are many out there, but here are just a few that I've found:

Presidential Elections and Other Cool Facts by Syl Sobel

America Votes: How Our President is Elected by Linda Granfield

Vote! by Eileen Christelow

So You Want to Be President? by Judith St. George and David Small

Duck for President by Doreen Cronin and Besty Lewin

If I Ran for President by Catherine Stier and Lynne Avril

If I Were President by Catherine Stier and Dyanne Disalvo-Ryan