Election Day - Deep Breaths Everyone
This year's election is different in so many ways. One way it feels different for me is that I cannot believe it is actually happening. Maybe it has been living in fear, the past four years, that my rights as woman would be slowly stripped away. Maybe it is the campaigning which seemed to start the day after the last election. Maybe it is the fact that I voted a week ago and I know that we are very likely not to know the outcome of this election tonight. We are a Biden voting family and I honestly don't know what I will do if the other guy wins. Look really deeply into my Canadian heritage and make a run for the border? My siblings have already looked into it and both came up with different answers to whether or not we can become citizens because our grandparents were both from Canada.
For today's post, I have two distractions and one book.
If you are anxious leading up to the the results as they are posted tonight, I highly recommend Yoga With Adriene's "Yoga To Calm the Nerves" yoga that she posted today. I just finished it and it helped me. Namaste, Adriene, you nailed it.
For those who don't want to watch results pour in, or who are unsure, children's author/illustrator Mo Willems is hosting an online "Democracy Doodle." Much like his lunch time doodles hosted at the beginning of quarantine, this session will offer you a bit of a distraction from what will certainly prove to be a long night.
The President of the Jungle by André Rodrigues, Larissa Ribeiro, Paula Desgualdo & Pedro Markun; Illustrated by André Rodrigues, Larissa Ribeiro, Paula Desgualdo & Pedro Markun, Translated from Portuguese by Lyn Miller-Lachmann
Lion is out of control. He has taken all the water from the river so he could make a pool for himself. The rest of the animals in the jungle are sick of it. They stage a protest and decide there will be no more king of the jungle. They will hold an election and vote for their first every president. There are campaign slogans, posters, selfies, debates, and finally an election. I love this book, published January 2020, for it's fresh look at elections. It introduces great vocabulary, it has a bit of silliness (check out the rules for elections below), and shows a non-partisan, honest portrayal of what it means to have a democracy. Well, mostly. The lion, in all fairness, is not all fair, but at least he doesn't promote hate groups and racism. Maybe the sequel?
Regardless, snag this gorgeous book as an intro to elections and also a starting point for a great discussion about democracy.
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