Today is election day in the United States and there has been a great "get out the vote" push.  It seems that as the years go by, people have become more and more apathetic about politics and taking advantage of one of our greatest rights.  How do we

• Talk about political issues with your children.  In my sister's district today there is a vote on a public transportation issue that will greatly effect her neighborhood personally.  While your children may not understand all of the issues, discussing them is a way for your children to see the value of being involved and being informed about the issues.
• Take your children with you to vote.  Sounds like a nightmare, right?  This may be more difficult for some people than others.  We go as a family.  If the line is really, really long (2 hours last year) one parent holds the place in line while the other person carts the kids around.  When it comes time to enter the polling booth, one parent can carry the child in and show him how the process works.  Beware of pesky regulations however.  This year the polling official told Derek not to let Ethan press any buttons because if he pressed the wrong one, it could send all five computerized machines down.  Not very encouraging about the safety and integrity of the voting process but we will certainly take that issue up with the county. 
• Have pride in your vote.  Our polling place gives out "I voted" stickers.  We gave our stickers to Ethan and made a big deal about him wearing them.  Technically, it may have looked that a minor voted (and voted TWICE for that matter) but he was proud to wear his stickers. 

These are just a couple of ideas to keep your children involved and to teach important principles.  Hope they can help you too.