Every Wednesday from 1 until 3 in the afternoon, I meet with the other members of the holiday fair committee, to discuss (endlessly) our ideas, endeavors and follow-up information for out school's largest fund raiser. four of the seven members have children in the same class, and so they all play - and bicker - while we meet. Yesterday, due to my brilliant foresight and planning, I brought a ton of food with me, never thinking in a million years that they would eat it all ... but they did. And it kept them in a good mood, and required little to no interference from us, which is how it should be. So I will offer a little nugget from yesterday's meeting that amused me to no end. Really, it doesn't take much!

After the kids had grown suspiciously silent, (when does "silent" go from : Thank God s/he is asleep to Oh no, what is s/he breaking now?) I glanced at a large pile of logs on the ground, with Flipper and one of her friends pretending to be asleep on top of them. The boys came over and "helped" them get up, and then they all ran and hid. They were obviously engaging in some sort of elaborate imaginary script and it was fascinating to watch.

It was like watching a snippet of a foreign film with no subtitles. No real idea of what is going on, but strangely mesmerizing at the same time. At home, I casually asked Flipper what they were doing. "Oh, we were just playing Puppies and Chips."

Puppies and Chips?!?!? What kind of "game" is that?!?!

Well, apparently it is a "game" - and I use that word loosely where some of the kids are puppies and some are chips. The "chips" are, apparently, the bad guys, who must be disposed of by some sort of violent means, like poking with sticks. Or shooting. All this from kids who don't watch television or movies. Which means they missed the REAL Chips ... these guys:

Anyone else remember this television gem? My sister and I loved it. It was right up there with "Emergency" and "Little House on the Prairie." Is it just my imagination or do they really not make them like they used to?

Anyway, I was utterly entranced with Flipper's "game." It is astonishing to me to observe them and watch how they enact something that they have no visual or written script to follow, that all of this came out of their heads, and they all - all 5 of them - did so harmoniously and happily. But ... I STILL don't know why they were sleeping on the logs. Perhaps, like so much, it is better that way!

Leigh appears Mondays on TriangleMom2Mom. Read more about Leigh at her blog Flipper and Me.