I'm feeling patriotic today.

What a day. I was excited about the idea of having our first black president, but hadn't quite realized how powerful it would be to see it actually happen. Two years ago, I never thought we would see a black president "this soon." For the first time in awhile (with the exception of every 4th of July when I get a patriotic spike), I felt really good about our country today. It's good to finally elect a president that I voted for.

Yesterday I gave my kids a homework assignment of finding out who is elected president. Before they were even in my room this morning they were yelling out who was chosen (of course, some were too excited about this, and neglected to do their actual spelling homework..). I hadn't talked too much about the election with them because it's not something that's covered in the 3rd grade curriculum and I have zero time to teach anything that's not in the curriculum. Surprisingly though, they knew a lot about it and were really interested. So, I shut my classroom door and deviated from my planned literacy lesson, and we had a great ten minute talk about when Obama will become president, why we have government, vice presidents, why other countries have kings, etc. We talked about why he made history, and why it's important that our country has its first black president. Because I teach in a city with a gigantic Hispanic population, I'm not sure if my class realizes that they're all minorities. But with their knowledge about the election's impact I'm guessing more than a few parents have emphasized their happiness at finally getting a president other than an old white guy.

Oh, and good job to Massachusetts voters for not getting rid of the income tax. I'd like to keep my job next year.