Packed in our car are two bags of surprise gifts for the kids. They’re not secret, but they are wrapped so that the kids don’t know what they are. They only get to open one on days when we drive a long distance; they get very excited about this. Some of the gifts are intended for them individually, others are for the whole family.

The first family gift that we opened was a set of little cards called Family Talk. It’s like The Book of Questions and similar products that include a bunch of random questions to get interesting conversations started. I’ve used things like this in my classes and advisory groups to generate discussion and writing prompts. Works great on a road trip too.

The first time we played, I whipped out a pad of paper and scribbled down some notes to capture the contrast between the minds of our three- and six-year-old. This all comes from my scrawled notes from the first three questions, so quotes are not exact, but I’ve tried to reconstruct things as accurately as possible.

Describe your dream bike.

Griffin: “My dream bike would have a rocket booster, an invisible candy machine, and sticky sticky wheels that can go up walls or trees or upside-down.”

Maggie: “Pink!”

<pause, before continuing with gusto>

“Ice cream machine with a pink ball and it was blue and it had a pretend tree on it and it was YUM!”

What does this have to do with a bike? We have no freaking clue.

If you could change one thing about your school, what would it be?

Griffin: “Make an experiment room. Putting water into one thing and then adding something else like orange juice and vinegar and then what was that stuff that makes it explode? Baking soda!”

Maggie: “Get a pool! Pond! We can’t go in because ducks might bite you. Go to the park. Get a coloring book. Get stickers. Actually I do want to do music and experiments. And I would build legos. And go under the fort if there’s thunder. And I’ll do music in there so the rain and thunder and lightning will stop.”

Once again, we thought she was done, but then she dove back in:

“And I would get a pretend moon and a pretend orange juice and a pretend trees and a pretend hat and a pretend glasses and a pretend shoes and a pretend napkins and a pretend…”

This went on for so long that I couldn’t write it all down. She was mostly describing things that she could see in the car (or through the windows). Eventually, she settled down and we moved on to the next question.

What are some qualities of good friends?

Griffin: “They like playing together!” <pauses to consider other qualities>

Maggie: “And a pretend light and pretend grass and pretend seats!”

Griffin: “Help you if you need help. Helping you read.”

Maggie: “And I have another thing! A pretend car and pretend clouds and pretend mountains!”

Griffin: “Maggie! That’s the wrong question!”

Maggie: “I want Griffin to stop talking because I want to talk. And also I got one more thing! Pretend stripes and real stripes.”

Griffin: <glaring at Maggie> “Good friends treat you with respect and treat you with kindness.”

Maggie: “That’s a LOT of things!”