Scenes from Inauguration Day:

"I'm staying on the train FOREVER"

"Can I have a flag?"

"You HAVE TO wear your coat."

"But I want a flag!!!!"

"No, we're not going that w---No, we don't bother the policemen!  Come here!"

"Hey Nineteen, it's 'Retha Franklin"

"Mom, is she playing Rock Band?"

"Mom, it's Rock Obama!"

"Watch me Mommy!!!"

"Here, just sit down and watch Hulu, I'm tired of holding you."

"Can I watch Wall-E Mom PPPLLLLLEEEEEAAASSE??!?"

You can watch Wall-E at home for the 5,376th time, but there's only one chance to get on an SRO metro train, spend hours shoving our way through the crowd in the cold, and be there for history (the nice kind of history making, without blood or death).

Because of where we work, we had the opportunity to be a block from the Mall and inside…we watched the Inauguration on TV, like pretty much everyone else, but on TV from where it was happening.  There was such a palpable vibe of EVENT that I ended up being glad we went, although if we'd just been joining the throngs of people standing on the Mall, I would not have taken a kid into the chaos and cold.  As it was I was too busy holding onto him to take photos (and once inside our vantage point, I wasn't allowed to), and I'm not sure what all he got out of it…but maybe someday he will remember that he was there when the first African-American President of the US was sworn in.  And maybe he'll remember that all the adults with him repeated the oath of office along with the VP, and know that his extended family renewed their commitment to the United States with hope in our hearts.