TITLE on my e-mail was a simple WOW with an exclamation mark. Born in 1965 just before Watts - in the first Los Angeles Riot - went up in flames, my daughter who lives in Colorado exclaimed she'd received credentials to attend the Obama acceptance speech in Denver.

As a kid, she and her sister used to stand outside supermarkets with a clipboard full of voter registration post cards getting people to sign-up for their civic duty. 

As parents, do we ever really know how they're going to respond to the early pressures we put on them? Maybe I should have called it guidance and not pressure.

The youngest of my crew, who is a senior in high school, sat glued to the television set the other night watching CNN's "McCain Revealed." "This is very interesting," she announced beckoning me to join in on the viewing.

Brandi, my youngest,  isn't a Senator McCain supporter but she certainly came to recognize credentials matter and that while he may not be her pick, he can't be discounted.

There's a lot to learn in front of the boob tube these days.

The time has come for parents to seize a unique opportunity that can help in guiding the young members of their households into politically active individuals - no matter the age and no matter the choice of political party.

Politically active isn't meant to mean protest, flag burning (as in the 1960s) or student marchers. Politically active in the simplest of terms means being aware of the process and the first step

Boring, the teenagers will no doubt complain. But how many of us complain that government classes are no longer available in the high schools? And how many of us have bothered to pick up the slack at home?

The kids may not yet be 18-years-old, the required age for voting, but it's not too early to get them pumped up.

Bring home a few registration post cards and let them see what they'll need to do when they reach the magic age. Boring you just might hear them say, but that's pretty much their usual comment.

Boring may well be accompanied by, "My vote won't count, anyway."

But ask the children, once they've seen the hordes of delegates at the conventions via live television coverage, why they think all those people are participating in the process if their vote doesn't count.

Boring? Our offspring seem to always think they should be entertained. But if they keep the remote tuned to the conventions they're apt to see some of their favorite celebs.

Voting is a family affair. If you don't they probably won't. Get pumped up for the November election - now - and while doing so let's spread the enthusiasm throughout the household and beyond.

Wow!

The daughter in Colorado who once rolled her eyes and grumbled because she had to stand outside supermarkets getting people registered to vote is now claiming she feels she's about to be part of history.

This blog appeared in the San Gabriel Valley Newspapers on Saturday, August 23 and is also on  line on the Pasadena Star News Website.   It is  available in our "column" section and that gives you the opportunity to forward and to print a copy