The kids asked me to explain the game “Red Rover” to them after I commented that a picture I was in along with a few others made us look like we were posing for a Sports Illustrated cover as the Red Rover team chaps.

“Red Rover is a game we used to play at our school growing up.”

Chloe, “Did you go to a public school?”

We did.

Chloe, “What was your school’s name?”

Falstaff.

Chloe, “I thought you said it was a public school?”

It was.

Chloe, “Then it would be Falstaff Public School and you just said Falstaff.”

“Red Rover, is a game where kids at their public school would form a line and with their arms linked, they would chant to another group of kids on the other side of the field, ‘Red Rover, Red Rover, we call Ellie over’.”

Ellie now interested, “You would call ‘Ellie’ over?”

No, we didn’t have any Ellie’s at our public school, we would call someone’s name and they would have to run towards the line-up of kids with their arms linked and break through the chain.

Ellie, “Wait.”

Here. We. Go.

“You said you chanted, ‘Red Rover, Red Rover, we call Ellie over…”

Not necessarily ‘Ellie’ but some random kid’s name.

“But what if the person’s name was Susanna-Rose-Lynn? You can’t sing, ‘Red Rover, Red Rover, we call Susannaroselynn over,’ because it’s too long.”

Well, we just made it work.

“It would have sounded like you were all mumbling and then nobody would have even understood what you were calling.”

Noted.

“What if the person couldn’t break through the chain?”

Then I think they joined the line and linked arms with the person on the end.

“What if the person did break through?”

Then I think they got to go back and try again until there was only one person left.

“How many turns did you get to wait before they called you again? Because if they called Susanna-Rose-Lynn over and she broke through, it wouldn’t be fair if they just called her again right in a row because she wouldn’t get any rest.”

For. The. Love. Susanna-Rose-Lynn!

“So I think you were granted a three-turn rest (totally making this up) before they could call you over again.”

Ellie’s mind racing, “Could you run towards the line of kids linked together but then dive under their arms?”

No.

“Why not? It’s getting past the chain.”

“Because the rule is you have to break through.”

“But you’re breaking under and that would be even harder because of how low you would have to get, especially if the kids were short.”

Well maybe you could do that but I think Susanna-Rose-Lynn would have something to say about cheating.

Chloe, “Did your not-public school have someone named Susanna-Rose-Lynn?”

Yes. She was the Red Rover champion, featured in the next issue of Sports Illustrated.