Register. Vote. Honor the Women Who Kicked Ass for Us.

Because I am away on a girls' weekend at the beach, I'm posting a very important message from Moms Rising. Pass. It. On.

The voter registration deadline in the state of North Carolina is October 10th. If you want your voice to be heard, if you want to cast a vote in the 2008 Presidential election, you must register. This is less than a month from now.

Please check on the registration deadline for your state. It is imperative. Lives truly depend on this election.

Please make sure that you, your friends, and your family get a chance to vote this November 2008. Your votes are important. We have a neck-in-neck Presidential race. And many local races are decided by fewer than 200 votes. That's you, your friends, and your friends' friends.

If you aren't registered to vote, or you're just not sure, register today:

http://www.momsrising.org/registertovote

Are you sure you're registered to vote? There are many reasons you might not be registered--like having moved or changed your address at all since registering--even if you're still in the same city or zip code. In some states, if you change your political party of choice you may need to re-register. You can also register to vote in the Presidential election (sure to be a close one) even if you didn't register to vote in your state's primary.

Registering is super easy. It only takes 5 minutes to fill out your form - and another 3 to print it, sign it, put a stamp on it and stick it in your mailbox. 8 minutes plus a stamp. Heck, if you're a fast typist (and licker and sticker), it's even less time. Isn't 8 minutes worth it to have a voice in the November 2008 elections!?

Forward this note to your friends and family so they can be sure they're registered to vote, too. Think your friends are already registered? Think again. In the last Presidential election, 36 million female potential voters (many of whom are moms) were not registered at all, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. That's 1 in 12 women!

And, if you're thinking that you might not vote this year, remember, every vote counts, really!

Here are some amazing examples of how a single vote (yes, just one vote!) has made a huge difference: John F. Kennedy won the Presidency in 1960 by getting one more vote per precinct in Illinois; Texas won statehood in 1845 by just one vote; and women won the right to vote in 1920 by a single vote.

Making sure that you, and your friends, are registered to vote in time for the 2008 elections can have a huge impact.

MomPower is sweeping across the nation, and we're changing more than diapers. By making sure you're registered to vote, you're joining up with others to make your voices heard for change. In fact, mobilizing moms to vote in the 2008 election is one of the most crucial things we can do to make sure our country is moving in a family-friendly direction on paid maternity and paternity leave and paid sick days, health insurance for all children, quality, affordable and accessible preschool and after-school programs, flexible workplaces, fair wages and ending salary and hiring discrimination based on parental status and family responsibilities.

*Register to vote now at: http://www.momsrising.org/registertovote

Thanks for doing your part and being a voice for moms and kids everywhere.

P.S. Eighty-eight years ago, on August 18, 1920, Tennessee became the final state to ratify the women's right to vote. All of those moms who came before us, moms who asked for the right to have their voices heard in our political process, will thank you if you register and vote. We do!

Obama Mama Redux

See that gorgeous Indian lady with the sassy hennaed hair and ginormous earrings? That's my mom. Yup, the one who gave birth to me. I'm the apple, and she's the tree.

I can't see her hands but I'm guessing she's wringing out her clammy palms or clasping them in prayer, begging the goddess of political stardom to plant Obama into the Oval Office come November. But chances are, she's digging in her gigundo purse for her camera. I bet it's one of those unstructured hobo bags I hate because it doesn't have any compartments. It's a good thing a photographer from Der Spiegel caught this shot because I don't think she'd know how to work the camera if she unearthed it anyway. The woman knows politics and current events but she don't know squat about technology.

My mom was in India when John, Paul, Ringo, and George visited back in the 60s. Seeing Obama up close and personal trumps that, I'm sure. And would you take a look at Obama. Where's he looking? As I see it, he's making direct eye contact with my mother. My mother. I'm all goose pimply over this. I feel like I am a rockstar by association. Well, maybe a groupie. I see matching Obama Mama T-shirts in our future. And look again at his eyes, he's holding that gaze; this is no fly over glance.

My mom lives in Berlin for part of the year. Being overseas has not squelched one iota of her Obama fever. She's still tirelessly campaigning, working the phones, and hosting staff members to ensure Obama squashes McCain. Her zeal is contagious. And trust me on this one, she was an Obama Mama before the term was coined. Foresight. The woman's got foresight.

Meanwhile I'm working the Obama brigade over in North Carolina. I'm set to take Bird canvassing with me. I took Deal to visit the campaign office today. He digs any place that has stickers, though the Obama logo and his visage planted all over the place made Deal's little head spin with excitement. This is a prime opportunity to introduce our boys to our values, political views, and civic duty. Why not grab this teaching moment by the horns and make some freakin' noise?

Bird just saw the photo of my mom and exclaimed, "I didn't know Nani was friends with Obama!" From the sounds of his squeal and delight, you'd think his Nani was shaking hands with Peter Parker himself.

My Mom the Democrat

Liz, of Mom 101, Cool Mom Picks, and Momcrats fame, wrote this article that I just read in my new issue of Brain, Child. I actually laid in bed with Casey, my shaved Persian cat, purring upon my chest, while I read the whole magazine. Cover to cover. Ads and all. This story, for obvious reasons, was my fave. 

Mom-101: My Daughter the Democrat

I knew I liked Liz even before I found out she's my buddy's buddy. Yeah, that's what you call some bloggy sucking up. Only I mean it. No brownie points to be had here, but brownies would be nice. 

My mom is a die-hard Democrat.  You'd know that about her in the first, um, .002 nanoseconds of meeting her. When she met Bill Clinton at a book signing she called me in a tizzy telling me she'd never wash her right hand again. After his antics during the primaries, she scrubbed her hand with Lysol. My mom can't drive or swim or ride a bike, but she can manage to get herself wherever she needs to go to cast her vote. Nothing lost on her American citizenship. My mom definitely has a dossier on file with the Department of Homeland Security. Her phone must be tapped, unless she's on a party line with a tap dancer or a cow that types clickety clacking all the while we talk. 

My mom is the original Obama Mama. Check her out here. She's the one in the middle with her signature ginormous earrings about to signal lift off and even bigger purse. And note that the woman is always high fashion. She's the one who walked into my house when Bird was 8 days old and proclaimed that I needed to wear mascara every day to make myself feel better. This was, of course, a ruse just so she could stand to look at me. Nevermind that I had a newborn who couldn't breastfeed and a house under construction while she had a mom, sister, and a nanny when I was an infant. Do I sound bitter? Nah. Maybe just a tad. Until I saw this photo of my mom I had never seen her in a T-shirt. Ever.

And damn, I am so proud of her. 

Teaching your kids about political values is no different than teaching them about the values and morals you believe in general. In my case, the blue apple didn't fall far from the tree. If everything goes my way, neither Bird nor Deal will come home from college as Alex P. Keaton.

I'm meeting with the NC head of the Obama campaign tomorrow and taking Bird with me. When I kissed him good night I told him about the meeting and said that he's going to wear his Yes We Can! shirt.  Sleepy eyed and nestled under the covers, he stuck out his little hand and gave me a thumbs up and an incredulous grin. 

That's my boy. 

A Challenge

As if we need any more reasons to love Bryce, Gib, Lane, Ivan, Martin Q. Blank, and of course Lloyd Dobler?


Take this challenge. And pass it on, especially to your friends who think America is in a good place and that McCain is going to change anything (for the better).