20 Questions

Husband taught the girls how to play 20 questions. So now when we're in the car, they deviate from their normal ABC game and Simon Says to play 20 questions.

Taking a 15 minute ride down the road today illicited this game.

Me: I'm thinking of something...
Husband: Is it Alive?
Me: Yes
Meenie: Is it an animal?
Me: No
Einey: Is it a plant.
Me: No.
Husband interjecting - how can that be?
Me: It's a person.
Husband: A person is an animal.
Me: Whatever.
Husband: Mom's cheating already.
Moe: Is it a poop factory?
Everyone - laugh, no it's not a poop factory.
Husband: Do we see this person every day?
Me: No
Meenie: Is it a dentist?
Me: No.
Einey: Is it a doctor?
Me: No
Moe: Oh, oh, I know! Is it a poop factory worker?
Me: No.
Meenie: IS it a building?
Me: um, no, we already established that it was a person.
Husband: Is it real?
Me: Yes
Einey: Is it a nuclear power plant worker?
Me: No.

The answer was in fact, Santa Claus.

Yet, then, 20 minutes later, he started to argue when I tried to guess Einey's person when I asked if it was an elf when she said it was a real person. Elves aren't real. I shot back with "well you didn't argue with Santa being real". He shut up then. Einey's answer was, a nuclear power plant worker.

No one guessed poop factory when it was husband's turn and that was the actual answer.

Also, I may or may not have shot coffee out of my nose when Moe answered something later. She did however, win that game with a correct guess of coffee.

And for the record, 20 questions is more like 40 questions, because inevitably one of them will start guessing a type of plant or man-made object while after the fact of it being an animal is established. And I totally screwed everyone up with the whole a person isn't an animal thing when in fact yes, they are. And I repeatedly got scolded on that.

The moral of this story is, if you teach a kid a new game, you'll never hear the end of it. Also, make sure mom knows the rules as not to un-teach the kids how to play.