Mom Moments

This is a historic event, and although I’ve never paid much attention to past inaugurations, I’m sure there will be lots of talk about this tonight when the kids get home.  I hope these kid friendly links are useful to you!

Besides being a long, difficult to spell, hard to pronounce word, what does “inauguration” mean?  From www.dictionary.com, inauguration is a noun that means “formal introduction to office.”   Basically, Obama will put his hand on a bible and promises to do his best at leading our country.

Link to Obama inauguration coloring sheets, wordsearch, and a maze.

Obama’s Message of Hope

Democrat or Republican or whatever, I think Obama’s message of hope and self-determination and community resounds with our children.

• Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek. 

Fun Facts about Barack Obama
from www.kaboose.com

• The name Barack means “blessing from G_d”
• He is left-handed.
• According to Blender magazine, his favorite music includes artists like The Fugees, the Rolling Stones, Bruce Springsteen, and Kanye West.
• He won a Grammy award for the audio recording of his book Dreams from My Father.
• He has authored three very successful books.
• According to his official Facebook profile, his favorite TV show is Sportcenter.
• When he was a child, he wanted to become an architect.
• He collects comic books.
• When he lived in Indonesia, he had two baby crocodiles, chickens, ducks and a gibbon named Tata as his pets.
• He loves to cook chili.
• According to the Associated Press, his least favorite food is beets.
   

The Nation’s First Kids, Meet the Girls: Malia and Sasha
from http://www.commercialappeal.com/

There haven’t been young kids growing up in the White House since the 1960s, Caroline and John Kennedy Jr., the late ’70s and early ’80s, Amy Carter, and the ’90s, Chelsea Clinton, so we thought we’d take a moment and get to know the Obama girls.

Malia is 10 and takes drama, dance, piano and tennis lessons. She likes to play soccer.

Sasha is 7 and takes piano, tennis, gymnastics and tap lessons

The girls attend school at the Sidwell Friends School in Washington, the same school attended by Chelsea Clinton, who was 12 when she moved with her family into the White House.

They may be part of the first family, but they are treated like regular kids. They have to choose between having a birthday party or presents from their parents.

The White House staff has been instructed not to clean up after the girls, since they are expected to perform their regular chores. Chores include making their beds, cleaning up their toys, setting the table and rinsing dishes. For allowance, they each get $1 per week.