September 19, 2012
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10 minute blog
Piano lessons start in 12 minutes, so let’s see what I can tell you in 10 minutes or less. That leaves 2 minutes to corral the dog, gather the kids and their music books, and speed across the street to the YMCA. Yeah, that doesn’t seem like the best plan in terms of timing, but it works most weeks.
Both kids ran for student government representatives for their class this year. Our daughter said she would, then said she wouldn’t, then wrote a speech under the darkness of night and gave it without even telling us about it. She didn’t win, and she was disappointed. She was also a bit frustrated, because one of the kids who won (they choose a rep and an alternate) copped to having a parent write her speech. The other kid’s speech also had a written-by-a-parent vibe, she says. Oh well. I told her that most politicians don’t write their own speeches (ain’t that the truth), but that I was proud of her for doing it on her own and putting herself out there.
Today, after her brother’s class election, we were discussing who voted for whom. We’ve found that usually if there are more girls in the class, a girl wins….and vice versa. However, for the first time ever, our daughter’s class has more girls than boys, and a boy still won. 4 girls ran against 2 boys. We had a good chat about “splitting the vote,” especially since she and her best friend ran against each other.
(It’s now 3.5 hours later, so clearly this wasn’t a 10 minute blog. And now a kitchen timer is going off….be right back.)
OK, where was I? Oh, I was just going to tell you that our dear sweet daughter didn’t even vote for herself. She voted for her friend, because “voting for yourself just seems wrong and kind of self-centered.” I’m not sure she’s got the right constitution for politics, with a belief system like that.
On the other hand, our son did in fact vote for himself — and he won the election in his class! You may remember when he ran last year on a platform of social issues (specifically, water on the playground and fresh vegetables in the cafeteria) but lost to a little girl who promised iPads and ice cream for everyone. (Oh, and by the way – she totally lied….no one ever got an iPad OR ice cream every Friday.) This year, he talked about his friendliness and how that would help him know what everyone would want him to say at meetings. He also said, “I will encourage more spirit days, because I enjoy them and think everyone else does, too.”
He moved the people, and the people responded in his favor. His reward is one meeting a month, on Tuesdays, which is currently wide open for the first time in years – so the timing was right. He’s excited, but was sensitive to his sister’s feelings and kept it within reason this afternoon. She’s a bit jealous, but handled it like a champ.
Had I chosen the right 10 minutes, this could have been a 10 minute blog. It is now 6 hours later and I’m finally done.
Comments (3)
School politics are brutal. Nice that your son didn’t gloat and make his sister feel worse…
That’s the problem with 10 minute blogging, isn’t it?
Your daughter not voting for herself reminded me of Leslie Knope running for city council on Parks and Recreation and her opponent says, “Leslie, you can’t vote for yourself. I’m pretty sure that’s illegal.”
@murisopsis - Yes, he’s a good little brother….though she’ll never admit it!
@madhousewife - I should watch that show more often – every time I see it, I crack up. My girl is a stickler for the rules, so she would certainly not do something illegal.