Madeleine Talks School

Well, Madeleine sure has a lot to say en route to school, but I can barely pull any information out of her after I pick her up.  As we drove to Julia's school to drop her off, then off to preschool, Madeleine was a chatterbox in the backseat.  Sometimes she was making observations on things she was seeing:

MADELEINE: (squealing) What a HECK?  Three school buses?!?

At other moments she turned into a solicitor:

MADELEINE: (reaching her hand out towards me from the backseat) Mommy, here, Mommy. 
ME: Reaching my hand behind me to give her an air high five.
MADELEINE: Mommy, there's nuffing in my hand that's MONEY.  So...can I have some MONEY, pleeeease?


At at yet other moments she waxed philosophical on the nature of school buses:

MADELEINE: Mommy, a school bus is a SCHOOL.
ME: It is, huh?
MADELEINE: Yeah.  It's a SCHOOL.  Because...a school bus BELONGS to a school.

Hmm.  Interesting analytical reasoning.  Are we all, by nature, the same as that to which we belong?  This is heavy stuff to wrap my head around, Madeleine.

Despite her ramblings on the way to school, after I picked her up, she was, per usual, unable to give me any concrete description of her school day.  And clearly no probing from me was going to get her to fess up.  I tried my darndest to get at least some small details out of her about what she did today.

ME: Madeleine, what is your favorite thing to do at school?
MADELEINE: Um, drink juice!  I was drinking juice.  But...NOT water.  Mommy, are you glad that I was drinking juice at school?
ME: Yes!  What else is your favorite thing to do at school?
MADELEINE: STOP!  Stop SAYING those things! 
ME: But I want to know what else is your favorite thing to do at school?
MADELEINE: Well...I don't know.
ME: Well, what do you have fun doing?
MADELEINE: Well...I don't know.
ME: Try!  Tell me, what other stuff do you do at school?
MADELEINE: Well...I don't know.
ME: So, besides drinking juice, you don't like anything?
MADELEINE:  Yeah.  I don't like water.  But I like juice.  And milkie!
ME: But at school, what do you like to do?
MADELEINE: Um, I like...to drink juuuuice!
ME: And what else do you like to do?
MADELEINE: Um...I like to eat!
ME: What kinds of stuff do you like to play with?
MADELEINE: Um...I like to play with...um...I like to play with... nothing!
ME: What's your favorite toy to play with at school?
MADELEINE: Um...the motorcycle, the cars, (standing up and sticking out her tongue and swaying her hips around) A BLA BLA, A BLA BLA (suddenly delighted) Mommy!  I was growing BIGGER!

At this point I just gave up.

I guess I'll remain content with the fact that, when I ask her if she had fun at school, she always responds with "YES!"  Whether the fun comes from drinking juice, riding a motorcycle, or playing the imaginary violin, at least she's able to assure me that she's enjoying herself!