Anyway, another dinner time event to report on. Mary Jo grilled a big hunk of beef.. no, not me, silly.. and made homemade mashed taters tonight. It was a fantastic meal, to be sure. While we were all sitting around, and dinner at our place can be very chaotic at times, Vianne said something that for some reason prompted me to mention "molecules." Vianne, six years old and a very inquisitive first grader, asked me what molecules are. I proceeded to explain about big things made of smaller things, which are made of smaller things still... all the while using a small blob of potatoes and reducing it each time I said "and that small thing is made of even smaller things" and so forth. I held the entire audience captivated for one or two minutes and then wrapped up the lesson by saying something like "and then you get to some of the very smallest things people know about, called 'molecules.' They are made of atoms... and they're sooo very tiny that you can't even see them with a regular microscope... you have to use an electron microscope." After waiting a very brief moment to make sure I was finished, Vianne said flatly, "I just wanted some potatoes."
Later in the dinner, Tornado... that's Junior, the soon-to-be five year old... decided to start a game, a question and answer game for which he would serve as questioner. (If you ask me it was a very clever scheme to keep the older kids at the table while he finished up his steak and peas.) First, he asked, "What sea creatures have long, sharp, pointy noses?" There was a flurry of answers upon which Junior, wearing his judge's hat (robe?), ruled and for the correct responses awarded "trophies." We played a couple more rounds with Tornado at the wheel and then Vianne took the mantle as Junior buckled down to finish his dinner. Vianne's first question was, "OK. This will be only mammals. What has big ears and comes in lots of colors?" Again, a peppering of answers, mostly correct (mine was 'donkey' but the judge said they only come in gray... no trophy for me) were given and imaginary awards were awarded. The next round, Vianne said, "Mammals again." This time, KC, the snarky eight year old lawyer type, said, "Just land mammals or ALL mammals?" Vianne was a little stunned... "No sea mammals," she replied. KC asked, "What about *flying* mammals?" This time, we're all stunned. I said, "Like flying elephants and flying pigs?" everyone chuckled and KC said, "Noooo, like bats." Well, that was a good one. Holy bat-milk... I had completely forgotten bats were mammals. Anyway, so Vianne says, "No flying mammals." Then Junior piped up, "How about ka-bammals?" At that point, Vianne had almost lost control as emcee, but she persevered and asked her question, "What has teeth and stripes?" So we rattled off some answers: "Tiger!" shouts Junior. "Zebra," I said... after three or four more answers, KC shouts, "My butt!" and we had to call the game.
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