The Obama Nation

It feels almost cliche to write about the presidential election, especially now, more than a week after the fact. And then too, there's so much to say. How can I hope to capture a fraction of it in these fifteen spare minutes? Parenthood, the craziest, most exciting, most intense thing I've ever done, takes up so much time that it's often hard to write about it, even the moments that I find most important.

But even in the face of incompleteness and imperfection, I want to take a quick second to write about what it means to me to be a parent in this new political moment. I have been emotional about this election for a long time now. Even before Barack Obama was the official democratic nominee, I would get weepy thinking about the very possibility of a person of color being our president. By the end of my pregnancy this summer, they just had to mention his name on NPR to elicit a flow of tears. And then, last Tuesday, when he won the election (and won in such a beautifully clear, mandated, definitive way), I was so completely overjoyed that I simply couldn't speak.

It makes me so proud that my kid will grow up with a black president. This thing that was simply unimaginable during my own childhood has happened in time for hers, and I really do think that it will fundamentally shape some part of her identity. Of course, this isn't just about my kid- this election, this presidency, will profoundly change the ways in which children across the country, across the world, imagine the possibilities for their own futures. I'm not naive; I know that Obama is not going to be our saviour. He won't singlehandedly fix everything that is wrong with this country, and he will undoubtedly do things that anger and frustrate me. But, for young people everywhere, for my daughter, to grow up understanding that he, a black man from a poor family raised by a single mom, is the face of our nation, how can this not expand our imaginative potential? How can it not allow children everywhere to think of new futures, new roles, new paths? Our understanding of what it means to be American is subtly shifting, and I am so very proud.

And, in a sign that perhaps she understands more than I give her credit for, Ocean starting sleeping through the night on election day. Thank you, President Obama.