Driving with my four-year-old son Ethan yesterday, a story came on NPR about the funeral for the Polish president who died in a plane clash last week…
E: He died?
Me: Yes. He was the president of a country called Poland, which is pretty far away. He died last week and today they’re having a funeral for him. Then they’re going to have an election to choose another president. Do you know what an election is?
E: No.
Me: Well, let’s see. An election is when people, uh, vote for other people to decide who’s going to be, um, the leader of a country — or a smaller place, like a city or a state. The people who win the election, they then get to make decisions and decide things. Like President Obama. There was an election a while back, and more people said they wanted President Obama to be the president, so he won the election, and he became the president. Now he’s the leader of our country.
E: I am.
Me: You’re the president of the United States?
E: Yes.
Me: That’s a pretty important job. Do you think you can handle it?
E: Yes.
Me: Well, let me know if you need any help with that.
E: I don’t need any help, Daddy.
Me: Okay.