Inauguration to a Seven Year Old

We stopped class today for a bit to watch Barack Obama become our 44th president. Generally, I don't care for politics. At all. I hate the constant media coverage, the butt-kissing and (most of all), the over opinionated average Joe who thinks his way is the best way and is completely unwilling to listen to any other sides. Whew. 

 

HOWEVER

I was totally impressed with today's inauguration ceremonies. From the elderly veterans who served in the army as second class citizens, to the miles and millions of hopeful people waiting for history to happen, I was reminded of how much today means to people. Whether or not you voted for Obama, you've got to admit that people are excited, and that feels good. 

I tried to impress upon my kids the significance of this event (it's correspondence to MLK Day didn't hurt - segregation/racism was still fresh in their little minds), but I'm not sure how much they took away. We stopped class, turned off the lights, and gathered around the T.V. to watch history unfold.

I commentated and fielded questions while the special guests took the stage, explaining names, jobs, and facts as they came to me. Here are some interesting things I heard as we watched:

"Do you think John McCain is mad right now?"

"Who will save their old house for them while they live in the White House?"

"Do the girls still have to go to school?"

"Can he make white people slaves now?"

"My dad said now we're going to be poor, cause Obama's going to take all of our money."

We also wrote about the event. I helped them start it with, "Today I saw Barack Obama become our president..." thinking that they might want to save it and share it with their kids someday. One of them asked if he could write it TO Obama instead. I told him to go for it.

"Well, are you going to send it to him?"

"No, I want you to take this home and save it."

"Oh good, cause I was going to say that I wish McCain was our president, and if you sent it to Obama, I'd probably get sued."

Happy Inauguration Day!