If you’ve got a kid, you know the look of disappointment on their face come Election Day when you inform them that they’re too young to vote. Their little spirits of civic engagement—crushed! Well, now they can play a part in the process.

The D.C. Library system will be holding a mock vote at the Petworth Library from 3 to 5 p.m. on Election Day, allowing kids from across the city to mark their ballots for their preferred candidate—in crayon, we hope; stay inside the lines!—just like their parents will be doing. The results will be announced on the library’s Facebook page at 5 p.m. (If two recent kiddie elections are to be trusted, they’ll break heavily for President Obama.)

We’re all about the kids, and we’ll all about inculcating democratic values early on. But this is a perfect opportunity to give them a realistic view of what voting is really like. Here’s how:

>> First, all of these kids have to be subjected to hours of nasty attack ads during the commercial breaks for their favorite Saturday morning cartoons. Their parents should be forced to explain both why the two candidates are being so nasty to each other and also why PACs can now dump billions of dollars into the race. Also, force them to watch the partisan echo chambers that are Fox and MSNBC. Just try and see if they make it through Bill O’Reilly or The Ed Show.

>> Upon entering the Petworth Library, all kids should be force to show ID, a Social Security card, a birth certificate—anything to prove that they’re not those dastardly illegal immigrants that are trying to steal our election!

>> Once they see their ballots, parents should explain why it really boils down to two options, no matter how many other third-party candidates try.

>> After they vote, their parents should have to sit them down and explain that a candidate can lose even if they get the majority of the votes. And after they’ve stopped looking so utterly confused, explain that given that they’re in D.C., their vote generally counts for even less—and they don’t even get a real representative or senators to vote for! Care to wager on the fact that your child will now be in tears?

>> Delay the posting of the results on Facebook because of hanging chads, missing ballots and state-by-state voting standards and processes that boggle the mind. Try to explain the Electoral College one more time.

>> Once the results are posted—way after bedtime, natch—teach them to run around yelling that the country is either (a) saved or (b) going to hell in a hand basket, depending on how their preferred candidate fared. Turn on those partisan echo chamber TV shows again to see either (a) exuberant celebration or (b) talk of the country going to hell in a hand basket.

>> Ask them to write down what they thought about the whole process. Take those thoughts and pass them into law as quickly as humanly possible. Trust us—the resulting electoral system will be better for it.