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Chavie's Turn to Choose

Ages 6-9 | Story and 9 activities

Chavie and Rina are best friends, and they almost never argue.

But on Sunday afternoon, they can't decide what to play.

"Let's play store," says Chavie. "I'll be the cashier."

"No, let's play school," says Rina. "I'll be the teacher."

"We played school yesterday."

"But I really want school."

"But I really want store!"

They stand facing each other with their arms crossed. Chavie's lip sticks out. Rina's eyebrows scrunch together. The air between them feels like a stretched rubber band.

"Fine," says Chavie. "I'll just play by myself."

"Fine," says Rina.

Chavie walks to the corner of the room and sits down with her back turned. She picks up a book. But she doesn't read it. She is too busy feeling cross. She hears Rina rustling papers and humming, and it makes her more upset.

After a few minutes, Chavie's mother comes in. "Everything okay in here?"

"Rina won't play what I want."

"And you won't play what Rina wants," says her mother, gently.

Chavie scowls. Then she sighs. It is true. "She wants school. I want store."

"What if you did both?"

"How?"

"What if you had a school store? The teacher could have a little shop where the students buy supplies."

Chavie looks up. That is actually a good idea.

She walks back across the room. Rina is sitting by herself with a pile of paper and a pencil. She looks up, and her eyes are a little sad.

"Rina, I'm sorry I was grumpy. What if we play a school with a store inside?"

Rina's face brightens. "Like a classroom where the students buy pencils?"

"Yes! You can be the teacher, and I'll be the cashier at the school store."

"I love that!"

They set up quickly. Rina makes a sign that says Welcome to Room 4. Chavie sets up a table with erasers, stickers, and a little cash box made of a shoebox. When Rina teaches a lesson on animals, Chavie raises her hand and says, "May I go buy a pencil?"

"Of course," says Rina, smiling.

They play for two hours. At one point, Rina says, "Let's switch. You teach, I'll run the store."

"Okay!"

When it is time for Rina to go home, both girls are glowing. "That was the best game ever," says Chavie.

"Next time, you pick first," says Rina.

"And the time after, you."

Chavie's mother, passing by, grins. "That's what we call compromise," she says. "Everybody gets a little of what they want."

The next Sunday, Rina arrives with a surprise: a paper bag full of play money she has cut and colored. "For the school store," she says. Chavie gasps. "It looks real!" They count it out together, one dollar, two dollars, and set up the shop again, with a brand-new rule: whoever picks first gets to be cashier second.

That night, Chavie lies in bed and thinks about how hard it has been to give a little. But it has been worth it. The game they've made together is better than either of their ideas alone.