Bix Neal

Back in the fall, Tavish was telling us about playing "bix neal" with a classmate named Arial, a new boy at school. Bix neal? We repeatedly sought clarification and came to believe he meant "big snail". Logically, we had to ask how it was played. Also logically, Tavish explained it the way any 3 year old would: "you run and "arr" and go "guuu" and run and yeah". Oh. Now, Arial also speaks Spanish, so maybe the game name was literally lost in translation? In chatting on the playground with Arial's Mom, she also had no guesses as to what "bix neal" was in Spanish nor in English. We even casually inquired with his teacher, who also had no idea what "bix neal" was. This was a sign. We needed to just accept "bix neal" for what it was ... a mysterious, but fun sounding game that pre-schoolers play to the confusion of adults...

MOMENT: "Bix Neal" returns

February 13th, several months after having not heard too much about "bix neal", Tavish excitedly tells us about the cookies they baked at school for the "bix neal tomorrow". My mind responded with a flurry of mental activity 'bix neal'? 'big snail'? no ... wait ...

Mommy: "Tavish, are the cookies for the Valentine's Day bake sale?"
Tavish: "Yeah, we made them for the bix neal for tomorrow and the elementary kids made stuff too!"

So, there you have it. These boys have been playing 'bake sale' on the playground. It is apparently common for the kids to 'bake' things in the little building and pass them to each other through the window and thus, you have a 'bix neal'.

Happy Valentine's Day!
We enjoyed our 'bix neal' cookies.