all i ever needed to know i learned in kindergarten

She intended to participate, wherever Mermaids fit into the scheme of things. And was not about to leave the game and go over and stand against the wall where a loser would stand. She did not relate to being a Giant, a Wizard, or a Dwarf. A small child stands there looking up, and asks in a small, concerned voice, “Where do the Mermaids stand?”Ī long pause. While the groups huddled in frenzied, whispered consultation, a tug came at my pants leg.

I yelled out: “You have to decide now which you are–a GIANT, a WIZARD, or a DWARF!” The excitement of the chase had reached a critical mass. Organizing a roomful of wired-up gradeschoolers into two teams, explaining the rudiments of the game, achieving consensus on group identity–all this is no mean accomplishment, but we did it with a right good will and were ready to go. But the real purpose of the game is to make a lot of noise and run around chasing people until nobody knows which side you are on or who won. It’s a large-scale version of Rock, Paper, and Scissors, and involves some intellectual decision making. “ Giants, wizards and dwarfs was the game to play.īeing left in charge of about eighty children seven to ten years old, while their parents were off doing parenty things, I mustered my troops in the church social hall and explained the game.

All i ever needed to know i learned in kindergarten