politcal quote of the day

this evening we hosted a civics 101 class. a political conversation for folks like us who don't want politics to be our other full time job. a couple friends who are very knowledgeable in this arena and love talking politics came over to lead the lesson and discussion. it was great - basic stuff most ninth graders know, but somehow i don't remember learning - like:

• what decisions does the president really get to make?
  
• do political parties even matter?
  
• what does the house of reps do?
  
• how do i know who to vote for!!!???
  

the last question doesn't have an answer yet, but i still have 7 more days. part of the problem is that i lost most of my interest some time last year - this election seems like it has been going on forever!! every year i say i am going to crack down and familiarize myself with the vocabulary, but every year i realize it is an entire language, and i'd really rather learn spanish!
trying to keep the kiddos quiet for the conversation was challenging. the girl is resisting using sign to say "more", choosing rather to pound her fists on the table and yell loudly. tonight i didn't push her - more food to keep quiet. zoom knows how to whisper now, but really doesn't like whispering. he did great. when he wanted to play with loud toys, he took them into his room. at one point we heard him singing at the top of his lungs, playing the guitar. later he told hubby he was playing, "up on top of a mountain is a birdie" (we aren't familiar with that song either, but apparently we should know it well). "it just seemed like the right song" he told us. coming back into the room he boldly declared, "mom! there's a mouse in our kitchen!" - there goes that secret!
near the end of the evening, zoom was sitting on my lap, sucking his finger, doggy in hand. suddenly he sat up and said, "wait! which one is sarah palin? i fought sarah palin was coming tonight".