Stumping

When we sit down to dinner we go around the table and tell our High/Low - the high point of our day and the low point. Jake doesn't get it just yet, so his typical response is "I had a little bit of timeout. I played in centers. I ate lunch and sleeped. I waited for you. And that's it."

Sam is getting much better at High/Low. It's not only interesting, the things that are important and noteworthy to him, but I've found it's a good opportunity to catch him being honest. I've learned what happens on the playground, what he prefers in his lunch and what girl he likes from playing High/Low.

Last night at dinner, he asked me to go first.

"Well, the high was probably that I had a good day at work. It was a tense day and there were a lot of firedrills, but we handled it well, and at the end of the day that's a good feeling, a job well done."

"And the low?" Sam asked.

"Well, I would've liked to see Barack Obama. He was in Dallas today for a rally. Do you know who Barack Obama is?"

Sam and I have talked recently about Obama and Clinton. He's been studying Abraham Lincoln and George Washington in school so the timing is right. But I also think it's important for him to know.

"See Sam, whoever is elected our next president may be the president for 8 years. That would take you into your teens. That person could make decisions that impact our family, your cousins Tyler and John Wyatt, your grandmas and Meams. That person could make decisions that set the stage for the life you lead as a young adult."

"I know who Barack Obama is," he told me. "He thinks we have to fix Washington to fix health care."