My nephew, at just over three years of age, has taken to the game Hi Ho Cherry-o. Knowing this, my mother purchased the game so that he can play it when he is at grandma's house. Those of us who have been subjected to the game (which has a charming tendency to turn into a very long and repetitive experience if one is older than, say six years old) tend to avoid being anywhere near him when he drags out the box, althuogh we'll all eventually agree to play, if only because he's just so darn excited about it.

After dinner tonight he pulled down the game and set it on the coffee table. Luckily I was sitting far enough away to escape notice, but Richard and my mom were sitting close by. My mom agreed immediately to play, but Richard wasn't exactly jumping for joy at the prospect. I teased him about how he'd have to play now, and he teased back that he didn't *have* to. This was, of course, until my nephew paused in the process of painstakingly putting all the teeny tiny plastic cherries on their cardboard trees and announced to Richard "You, too, will play this game" with all the authority and determination that any three-year old unlikely dictator can possess.

For the rest of the evening, we all took great delight in telling each other that "you too" had to do something or other. My nephew, fortunately, remained blissfully unaware of our humor at his expense. Ah, the joy of being young.