Small Group Games

Madeleine had an online Small Group meeting with her teacher and two class members this morning.  She was bursting to fill me in on the details after the session ended.

MADELEINE: Mommy.  So, we played "Would You Rather?" in small groups.
ME: I heard some of it. Wasn't there a question about not watching tv?
MADELEINE: Yeah.  Well, so my first question was: Would you rather go a whole year without using your computer or screens BUT you can watch tv, or go a year without dessert.  And I picked a year without screens, because: TV is my best friend, so if I can watch tv, then I don't really need my computer.  (silent pondering) Except then I couldn't keep writing FOTTB*....
ME: Well, you could write it by hand.
MADELEINE: And the NEXT question, I already knew my answer right away.  It was would you rather go on a one-week vacation to another country, or go on a four-week vacation around the US.
ME: Okay.
MADELEINE: I picked a one-week vacation to Nice.
ME: Yeah, we did love it there.
MADELEINE: And then the next question was: would you rather have a really STRICT teacher, but you learn something, or a really NICE teacher but you don't really learn anything.  I was the only one who picked the strict teacher, because I like learning things.
ME: Right.
MADELEINE: And then the next one was would you rather not eat any of your favorite foods for a year, or eat ONLY your favorite foods for a year.  And...even though they're not really HEALTHY choices, I picked my favorite foods.  Like, my TOP favorite food is salted caramel gelato, then pain chocolat, and then croissants.  So, like, croissants are KINDA healthy...
ME: Kind of.
MADELEINE: And, like, croissants and pain chocolat I ate for BREAKFAST in France...
ME: Yeah, they're okay breakfast foods.
MADELEINE: And I don't know what my other favorite foods would be, but I'm sure there's SOMETHING healthy in there.
ME: You like pasta.
MADELEINE: (shrugging indifferently)**
ME: And turkey meatballs.
MADELEINE: Yeah, I love meatballs.  (Brightening) And BESIDES, if I picked meatballs, then that automatically comes with OTHER healthy foods, like PEPPERS...
ME: Right.
MADELEINE: (thoughtful) Although...I *could* do without the zucchini.
ME: I know.
MADELEINE: But everyone else picked going without your favorite foods.  My teacher said she was afraid she might get SICK of her favorite foods if she had to eat them every day, and the other two kids said their favorite foods are not very healthy.

I guess Madeleine had no such worries.  As she said, croissants and pain chocolat are KIND of healthy, and she's sure there would be something else healthy in there.  And we all know she could NEVER get sick of salted caramel gelato, even if she had it every day (which she would, because she also picked having dessert every day over no screen time.)  So, to sum up, she'd pretty much just be hanging out in France eating croissants, pain chocolat, and gelato, and learning with a strict teacher, but we'd have no real way of keeping in touch with her unless she wants to send us paper letters that she wrote by hand.  Given our current restraints, I'd take that year too, Madeleine!


*FOTTB is "Founders of the Timeline Barrier," the book series Madeleine is writing and intends to publish.
**Did I miss the memo that plain buttered pasta is no longer Madeleine's top favorite food?