Schoolyard Jail Game Gets Political

We have to torture Will to get him to talk about his day at school. Direct questioning is no more effective against him than it is with KGB operatives... hmmmm, perhaps I'll need to explore that further on another day. Suffice it to say, we hardly know anything about what he does in school.

We do know that he occasionally plays Batman or Star Wars at recess. These are fun games consisting of evolving rules, tackling, shooting, and sometimes jump ropes.

Today was an all together different story and I must confess that it made me like his school a little more.

In between "Mom, can I have some more green beans," and "Mom, isn't it cool how the dog can eat off my fork," the following conversation happened:

Will: "Today I was President Bush."

Me: "Really? Were you studying about him in class?"

Will: "No. I played him."

Me: "Were you studying the election?"

Will: "No. I was him at recess."

Me (incredulous): "You were President Bush at recess?"

Will (with a big, big smile because he knows he has my undivided attention): "We were playing Presidents today. I was President Bush. Trevor wanted to be President Bush too but I told him, 'No way. I get to be him.' Then he cried but we told him that he could be George Washington, which is very cool because he's like the first President."

Me: "So what kind of game was this?"

Will: "Well, John was John McCain, because his name is John. Then Payton was Sarah Palin. Riley said he'd be Barack Obama and Pablo said he was Joe Biden. And Ryan was Abraham Lincoln and there were some other Presidents too."

Me: "Did you spend recess talking about the election?"

Will: "No. All the Presidents chased Barack Obama and Joe Biden so we could put them in jail. No one likes them. We want them to lose."

Me: "Whose idea was this?"

Will: "Payton's. She said, we all should play Presidents. Then she said, 'I get to be Sarah Palin.' I thought it was a good idea so I said that I'd be George Bush."

In closing, we do not advocate throwing any of the political candidates in jail. But I think it's funny that a group of sweaty second graders are running around a schoolyard trying to put Obama and Biden in jail. Somewhere in this story is a really funny Onion article.

Yes, we talk politics a lot in our home. A LOT. It's comforting to know that there are other families who do the same - in fact, it appears that the majority of parents in Will's class do too. I'd also like to add that I think it's inspiring to hear about little girls not only jumping in to play with the boys on the playground but taking the lead. I think that Payton may have a political future... and possibly Will, though that may conflict with his plan to become Pope.