good finds / HOMESCHOOLING / life (in general)

For you: printable 2012 electoral college map!



2012 printable electoral college map


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I was searching the internet this afternoon for a map of the electoral college that I could print out. I wanted a map of the United States with each state’s electoral votes, so the kids could color it in as results start streaming in. 

 I found one that worked but it was no longer available, even a cached copy, and its numbers were out of date for 2012. So I played with it in photoshop and made the changes for 2012. 

I thought I’d share it with all of you in case your kids want to follow along as well. Looking forward to an exciting night! And I take it back, I guess I’ll talk about politics more than once. 

In case you’re interested, here are the states whose electoral college votes changed in 2012:

WA +1 | NV +1 | AZ +1 | UT +1 | IA -1 | TX +4 | LA -1 | MO -1 | IL -1

MI -1 | OH -2 | GA +1 | SC +1 | FL +2 | PA -1 | NY -2 | MA -1 | NJ -1

 



2012 printable electoral college map


DOWNLOAD

I was searching the internet this afternoon for a map of the electoral college that I could print out. I wanted a map of the United States with each state’s electoral votes, so the kids could color it in as results start streaming in. 

 I found one that worked but it was no longer available, even a cached copy, and its numbers were out of date for 2012. So I played with it in photoshop and made the changes for 2012. 

I thought I’d share it with all of you in case your kids want to follow along as well. Looking forward to an exciting night! And I take it back, I guess I’ll talk about politics more than once. 

In case you’re interested, here are the states whose electoral college votes changed in 2012:

WA +1 | NV +1 | AZ +1 | UT +1 | IA -1 | TX +4 | LA -1 | MO -1 | IL -1

MI -1 | OH -2 | GA +1 | SC +1 | FL +2 | PA -1 | NY -2 | MA -1 | NJ -1

 

4 Comments
everything else / LIVING WELL

The one time I’ll talk about politics

The one time I'll talk about policitics

Emma is really into the election this year. Cheers at the dinner table when she realizes it's a debate night, into it. Asks if I've thought about putting signs in the yard and bumper stickers on the car, into it. Meets someone new and whispers to me "Who do they vote for?", into it. 

Personally, I'm at the point where I almost can't look anymore. I watch the debates, until I feel like I can't listen anymore. I simultaneously scroll twitter until I find myself wanting to scream in disgust and have to stop. I take a deep breath before I answer the political robo-call on my home phone.

But now, with a kid in the mix who's paying close attention and feels pretty strongly about who she wants to win, I feel more sensitive than ever to the nastiness that scrolls through the pages of my facebook and twitter streams, and spews through the television. 

Emma's passionate. And she's passionate in a way only a ten year old can be about who she wants to win. But one thing I haven't been letting her do is make remarks about the other candidate that are disrespectful or rude. Maybe she disagrees with his philosophies or ideas or his smirk or his tie (c'mon she's ten), but still we require level of decency. "You may not like him, but you still need to be respectful." is my mantra. I don't temper her passion, but I do my best to keep it moving in a positive direction.

I don't say this in some holier than thou way, but only because geesh, I've been really disappointed in the childish, disrespectful and downright embarrassing things I've seen flying around social media. Maybe I need to swear it off (social media). Or maybe we need to find a way to share our opinions and show our support without spewing disrepect to anyone who might be listening. Keep it clean. Keep it civil. 

I read this quote that a friend of mine posted on her facebook wall. It's an oldie thanks to John Wesley circa 1774. And I know. It's naive. And idealistic. But sometimes, that's how I roll. And it's one that's worth sharing. 

"I met those of our society who had votes in the ensuing election and advised them to 1. Vote without fee or reward, for the person they judged most worthy. 2. To speak no evil of the person they voted against. And, 3. To take care their spirits were not sharpened against those that voted on the other side."

Honestly, I'd love to hear from all of you. How do you approach this topic? Do your kids have strong feelings about the election and its outcome? How do you direct their "passion"? 

*edited to add: reading your comments and thinking about this more tonight….thought I would take the liberty of paraphrasing the quote into words that are a good reminder to us all in light of tomorrow….*



Vote

The one time I'll talk about policitics

Emma is really into the election this year. Cheers at the dinner table when she realizes it’s a debate night, into it. Asks if I’ve thought about putting signs in the yard and bumper stickers on the car, into it. Meets someone new and whispers to me “Who do they vote for?“, into it. 

 

Personally, I’m at the point where I almost can’t look anymore. I watch the debates, until I feel like I can’t listen anymore. I simultaneously scroll twitter until I find myself wanting to scream in disgust and have to stop. I take a deep breath before I answer the political robo-call on my home phone.

 

But now, with a kid in the mix who’s paying close attention and feels pretty strongly about who she wants to win, I feel more sensitive than ever to the nastiness that scrolls through the pages of my facebook and twitter streams, and spews through the television. 

 

Emma’s passionate. And she’s passionate in a way only a ten year old can be about who she wants to win. But one thing I haven’t been letting her do is make remarks about the other candidate that are disrespectful or rude. Maybe she disagrees with his philosophies or ideas or his smirk or his tie (c’mon she’s ten), but still we require level of decency. “You may not like him, but you still need to be respectful.” is my mantra. I don’t temper her passion, but I do my best to keep it moving in a positive direction.

 

I don’t say this in some holier than thou way, but only because geesh, I’ve been really disappointed in the childish, disrespectful and downright embarrassing things I’ve seen flying around social media. Maybe I need to swear it off (social media). Or maybe we need to find a way to share our opinions and show our support without spewing disrepect to anyone who might be listening. Keep it clean. Keep it civil.  Keeping it PG is important, especially because there are a lot of businesses on social media and it might affect the space for professional, intellect talks. Social media websites like Instagram have become so popular that many businesses go so far so as to buy views and likes from the Marketing Heaven to draw more people, which only accentuates on how important it is to maintain a certain level of decorum.

 

 

I read this quote that a friend of mine posted on her facebook wall. It’s an oldie thanks to John Wesley circa 1774. And I know. It’s naive. And idealistic. But sometimes, that’s how I roll. And it’s one that’s worth sharing. 

 

“I met those of our society who had votes in the ensuing election and advised them to 1. Vote without fee or reward, for the person they judged most worthy. 2. To speak no evil of the person they voted against. And, 3. To take care their spirits were not sharpened against those that voted on the other side.”

 

Honestly, I’d love to hear from all of you. How do you approach this topic? Do your kids have strong feelings about the election and its outcome? How do you direct their “passion”? 

 

*edited to add: reading your comments and thinking about this more tonight….thought I would take the liberty of paraphrasing the quote into words that are a good reminder to us all in light of tomorrow….*

 



Vote

17 Comments
family / home / life on thomas run

Chore charts, check lists and when can I watch TV?

Chores_checklists_children

It feels almost silly and naive to be writing about this, only three days in. Because every new system is bliss in its early days. The real measure of success comes weeks down the road when you find you're still using it and it still works. But still I know how it goes. As parents we see a problem, something that needs to be changed and we come up with a solution. Sometimes it's a temporary fix that gets us through a rough patch. Sometimes it's a crutch that helps establish new habits or new expectations. 

Untitled

I should have known something as simple as a checklist would be the thing that seems to work for my kids. They are my offspring afterall and I'm a girl who loves her lists. And just like all the fuss over finding the perfect gift only to discover what they really want to play with is the box–this list has no gimmicks, stickers or stars. It's just a list. Turns out, they don't need all the other stuff. 

Untitled

But here's why we needed it:

1.) My family has issues with technology. (I should say, everyone but my husband–he's could really care less.) We seem to waffle between extremes. We go through long seasons where the TV's locked away in a cupboard and no one even seems to remember that we have one. Or we swing to the other extreme–and I hit the end of the day feeling disappointed and frankly a little sick at the amount of screen time my kids have cosumed in the past 12 hours. I'm all for the lock it away philosophy. But in reality that's getting harder–there are presidential debates, Sunday morning news, weather to follow, and knitting to accomplish which requires a good teary episode of Parenthood. Then, there's the oldest child and her hard-earned and recently acquired iPod Touch. The list goes on and on. It seeps in and there has to be a way to live with it, but still be in control of it. 

2.) I was often reaching the dinner hour and feeling frazzled that there was still piano to practice, french lessons to do, eggs to collect, laundry to put away. I couldn't figure out where the time had gone and how we'd managed to get this far into the day without accomplishing some very basic tasks that needed to be done.

3.) The plus of a big family is that I've given birth to a small army of helpers. And frankly they are willing to help (and shhhh, I think sometimes they kind of enjoy it.) But I was not enlisting their help at all. And more often than not, when I did need help it was always falling on the shoulders of the oldest, because the girl can get a job done well and willingly. And that's not fair.

4.) I hate nagging.

5.) I hate whining. (my own and theirs.)

Untitled

So simple as that, every morning I do a quick print out of each child's list. Tack it up on the chalkboard in the kitchen and that's it. Those basic, important tasks are getting done. I don't have to say a word. And everyone knows if there's any hope for channel flipping, afternoon movie watching, or iPod Touch touching, the list must be done. 

Untitled

And yes, we're in the blissful stages. A real moment of bliss? This afternoon, I was tucked in bed easing a sick kid into a nap and downstairs I could hear someone speaking french and another little someone setting the dinner table. I totally nailed this one. Until the next one comes along…..

 

Chores_checklists_children

It feels almost silly and naive to be writing about this, only three days in. Because every new system is bliss in its early days. The real measure of success comes weeks down the road when you find you're still using it and it still works. But still I know how it goes. As parents we see a problem, something that needs to be changed and we come up with a solution. Sometimes it's a temporary fix that gets us through a rough patch. Sometimes it's a crutch that helps establish new habits or new expectations. 

Untitled

I should have known something as simple as a checklist would be the thing that seems to work for my kids. They are my offspring afterall and I'm a girl who loves her lists. And just like all the fuss over finding the perfect gift only to discover what they really want to play with is the box–this list has no gimmicks, stickers or stars. It's just a list. Turns out, they don't need all the other stuff. 

Untitled

But here's why we needed it:

1.) My family has issues with technology. (I should say, everyone but my husband–he's could really care less.) We seem to waffle between extremes. We go through long seasons where the TV's locked away in a cupboard and no one even seems to remember that we have one. Or we swing to the other extreme–and I hit the end of the day feeling disappointed and frankly a little sick at the amount of screen time my kids have cosumed in the past 12 hours. I'm all for the lock it away philosophy. But in reality that's getting harder–there are presidential debates, Sunday morning news, weather to follow, and knitting to accomplish which requires a good teary episode of Parenthood. Then, there's the oldest child and her hard-earned and recently acquired iPod Touch. The list goes on and on. It seeps in and there has to be a way to live with it, but still be in control of it. 

2.) I was often reaching the dinner hour and feeling frazzled that there was still piano to practice, french lessons to do, eggs to collect, laundry to put away. I couldn't figure out where the time had gone and how we'd managed to get this far into the day without accomplishing some very basic tasks that needed to be done.

3.) The plus of a big family is that I've given birth to a small army of helpers. And frankly they are willing to help (and shhhh, I think sometimes they kind of enjoy it.) But I was not enlisting their help at all. And more often than not, when I did need help it was always falling on the shoulders of the oldest, because the girl can get a job done well and willingly. And that's not fair.

4.) I hate nagging.

5.) I hate whining. (my own and theirs.)

Untitled

So simple as that, every morning I do a quick print out of each child's list. Tack it up on the chalkboard in the kitchen and that's it. Those basic, important tasks are getting done. I don't have to say a word. And everyone knows if there's any hope for channel flipping, afternoon movie watching, or iPod Touch touching, the list must be done. 

Untitled

And yes, we're in the blissful stages. A real moment of bliss? This afternoon, I was tucked in bed easing a sick kid into a nap and downstairs I could hear someone speaking french and another little someone setting the dinner table. I totally nailed this one. Until the next one comes along…..

 

13 Comments