I voted!

Because this is the first presidential election in which I've been able to vote in-person, I was really looking forward to voting on election day, getting my "I voted sticker," and really feeling a part of it. In 2000, I was out-of-state, and in 2004, I was in Oregon, which is (or at least was) absentee-only. After seeing all the clips about how long of lines they had at early voting, I was a little nervous for today, though, and was pretty mad at myself for not going early.

Mabes and I went to vote just before 10 this morning. I really wanted her to go with me, but was going to bail if the lines were really long and just go back on my own tonight. I was armed with paper, a pen, a bag of carrots, a box of raisins, and 2 lollipops if things got desperate. Fortunately, lines were pretty short (but much longer right as we finished), and Mabes stayed close as I pointed out the "special voting computers" and we talked about the election and the president. I'm sure it all went over her head, but thanks to our DC trip, she was excited to hear that this election determines who will live in the White House--"Hey, we saw the White House when we saw the Washngtn Momumin! Let's go again!"

I voted, got my sticker, and then went over to the "kids voting" section where Mabes got to cast her ballot. At the risk of sounding super cheesy, I got a little teary-eyed as I looked around the room. This is our democracy, and it's great to see it in action. And as Mabes put her ballot in the box and got her "I voted!" sticker, I realized that though she may not remember this historic election, someday I'll be able to tell her how excited she was to participate.