Taking Our Children to Vote

The day-care center at our church had the toddlers vote on a snack for tomorrow. They got to choose one of three "candidates": popcorn, bananas, or pretzels. As of yet, we still don't know the outcome of their voting, but it was interesting to see future lobbyists encouraging other "undecided" children how to vote!

My daughter woke up at 5:50 a.m. today. No alarm clock. She was as excited as all of us to cast her vote. She is only 11. The 9 year-old voted at 8 a.m. with her mother.
Tonight we are all going to an "election results party"
Great taste of Democracy!

I took both my kids to vote at 7 am this morning... we met their grandparents at the polling place and afterwards headed to Starbucks for our free coffee (and not free warm vanilla cremes for the kids). My seven-year-old son displayed his "Go Obama" sign at Starbucks and shyly told a couple of his famous Obama jokes to the crowded cafe. On the way home we talked about the election and how the electoral college works. This is the first election that has "mattered" to them, in that they have taken a really strong interest in the candidates, the issues, and are anticipating the outcome.

My 5-year-old was excited. She actually thought Obama and McCain were going to be there, and was a little disappointed that they were not there.

I take at least one of my children every year that i vote. My parents did it with me and I continue the tradition. Civic mindedness is taught at home as well as in school!!

We took our son to vote with us. He sat off to the side and played with a toy while we voted. When we were done and walking our ballots over to the scanner, he stopped in his tracks and said "Mommy! I forgot to vote!" The poll workers thought that was a riot! :)

Thanks everyone for sharing your thoughts and experiences! It's hard to imagine any other election being this exciting, but I do plan to bring my daughter to vote in the next election. By then she should be able to understand what it really means.

My husband and I took our 3 year old and 1 year old to vote with us. Our 1 year old fell asleep in the long lines but our 3 year old kept moving up in the line all excited saying were going to go vote mom and dad. Then he'd ask why are we in these lines again and we told him were voting to see who will be President of the United States he said yeah I'm voting too. He went with me as I voted they gave him a sticker that he voted too which he thought was so cool. I think its a great experience for our children to witness and be apart of so they can see how important it all is and hopefully when they come of age will vote as well!