Dipping Into the Chat Pack

Before a recent family trip, I spent $10 on a game that I hoped would help address boredom. Sitting in a car or waiting in an airport for hours can be difficult for some kids. One of mine is quite self-sufficient and can keep herself entertained without much help. But her sister is very high maintenance, always needing something to do, and endlessly bothering Mom and Dad until she gets it. (We still say ‘no’ to 80% of what she asks for, but she can be quite persistent.)

If she ain’t happy, ain’t nobody happy

So I bought something called a Chat Pack for Kids, sold by a company called The Question Guys ™ (I found it on Amazon). They have other flavors also, but this is the kid pack. It’s a pack of 156 cards, each with a thoughtful and stimulating question for kids to ponder, discuss, or write about. The package describes the product as “Fun questions for parties, trips, and gatherings”.

We took the Chat Pack on a weeklong trip. It was a success once, eating up about 30 minutes in which all of us participated, but we didn’t use it a second time. Until we got home.

Chat Pack to the rescue

One thing my younger daughter needed to work on over the summer was her writing. She’s a good writer for her age, but her teacher from last year felt she needed to spend more time with it. And as any good Steemit author knows, the next question is “What should I write about?” She answered the question by finding the Chat Pack and drawing a card.

Several times this summer, with very little encouragement, my daughter has drawn a card and sat down in front of our computer to type up an essay. Today, for example, she wrote about her favorite board game, Monopoly, and how she smoked the rest of us by dominating the board with her properties and driving us all broke. That wasn’t quite how I remembered the game, but I guess a dose of fiction is acceptable.

I’m just glad she’s motivated to think and write. This set of questions seems to be stimulating her into doing so. And so, now that she has gone to bed for the night, I thought I’d pick out a few questions to see what I can do with them.

Question 1: In your opinion, which person whom you know has the funniest-sounding sneeze?

That would be my late aunt Felicity (past tense, rest her soul). Lissie made every sneeze into an event. She began noisemaking in the warm up (“Ach, ach, ach, ach...”), the pace increasing as it built to a crescendo. And that climax sounded something like “Ah-wo-choooo!” The ending was aspirated with a mighty exhalation, though she usually had a handkerchief to blow into by then. Thank goodness.

But Aunt Lissie had nothing on Sophia, the world’s greatest sneezer (warning: video contains some adult language).

Question 2: If you had to work on a farm for one week during the summer, what particular job or chore do you think would be the most fun to do?

It’s tempting to say “harvesting fruit or vegetables” because that’s the sweet ending to all the hard work. But instead of that easy choice, I think I’ll go with “shoveling sh*t.” There’s nothing like manual labor to remind you of your place in the world. And as long as the weather isn’t too hot or humid, I can shovel or pitchfork a lot of manure. The smell doesn’t bother me unless it’s fresh doo doo.

Manure on straw in wheelbarrows. Source: CC via Pixabay by Sabinevanerp.

When I was a kid, I worked on a farm a few times. Horse manure is great for gardens (so is donkey manure, but horse stuff is easier to find). Since straw is used frequently for bedding and lining barns and corrals, horse manure tends to be quite light. A tight pitchfork is a good implement to lift and move it from a barn into the bed of a truck or wheelbarrow, so it can be moved to somewhere where it can sit and compost. After that happens, it gets moved again to be spread on a garden as a soil builder and mild fertilizer.

Question 3: If you could sleep in a different place each night for a week, what seven places would you select? (The locations can be anywhere in the world!)

Night 1: In a yurt on the steppes of Mongolia, chasing the bones of Genghis Khan.
Night 2: On a pirate ship in the South China Sea, waiting for an unsuspecting spice trader to be caught unawares and make me rich with nutmeg.

Catan Explorers and Pirates game. Source: islaydragons.com

Night 3: At Camp IV on the high clutches of Mt. Everest with a supplemental oxygen tank that’s bigger than anything that anyone has ever hauled up to the summit before.
Night 4: In a hammock on a deserted beach in Zanzibar. No tsunamis, please.

A beach in Zanzibar. Source: Tanzania-experience.com.

Night 5: In the dormitory room in Dublin, Ireland where I lived when I was a student there many eons ago. Good memories.
Night 6: On an all-night red-eye flight back to where I live. A trans-continental sleeper train would be my second choice if they have one that can jump the pond. I love sleeping on trains.
Night 7: In my own bed.

Question 4: What is the most fun you’ve ever had doing something outside in the rain?

Aside from something that might be an inappropriate choice for a general audience, I would have to say “building sand castles”. I have a fond memory of being on a beach in the pouring rain, making sand castles with my friends. It was hard to know where the rain ended and the ocean began. Sandy, soaking wet, tons of fun.

Making sand castles. Source: CC via Pixabay by Ben_Kerckx.

Question 5: What is one thing you’re pretty certain you’ll be very good at when you’re an adult?

Ooh, that hurts. A real kid question. Here I am an adult and I’m not doing any of the things I dreamed of doing. I never became a firefighter or a veterinarian or a professional soccer player. Looking back, as a child, I might have been fairly certain that I would be able to wiggle my ears by the time I reached adulthood. I always wanted to be able to wiggle my ears. This child spent long hours developing the right muscles to make both ears twitch when I tightened my jaw. And it worked; I can wiggle my ears.

One thing I’d like to keep forever is the ability to ‘think like a kid’. I’ve lost most of that, but not all. I still have the ability to shift into that perspective, if not the boundless imagination and all-out devotion to fun. What little I have left, I’m keeping, and being a parent definitely helps a person tune into it again.

Thinking like a kid is the most precious gift an adult can have. How would you respond to the questions above?

Badge by @jodipamungkas

Top image: Chat Pack by The Question Guys, available on Amazon and probably at other fine retailers.