Top 5 Games I Miss from Second Grade

5a) Four Corners. The mayhem of fleeing from one corner of the class to another, praying that you didn't choose the wrong one that would send you back to your desk.

5b) Parachute. Actually, I don't think this game has a name. Your whole class lets air flow under a parachute, then you let go and run through the chaos of the bottom and try to make it to the other side before being suffocated by five tons of rainbow-colored cloth. Just as fun when you lose as when you win.

4) Heads Up, Seven Up. Nothing but darkness inside your folded arms as you wonder, won't someone come to my desk and tap my head?

3) Quietball. What a premise for the burned-out elementary school teacher: invent a game that forbids any sort of noise. Plus, you got to sit on your desk and dangle your legs in the air, which was way cool.

2) Kickball. The poor man's teeball was always rewarding whether you kicked the ball high into the air or tripped on the ball after striking out. Rivalries with classmates, tournaments with other classes, and a big red ball. Plus, I got to hide behind the dugout and kiss Whitney Allen, my second-grade relationship that ended in tragedy when I threw dirt at her and ran away from my commitment. I digress. On to number one...

1) Dodgeball. The game where legends were made. Nothing beat the gradual word-of-mouth that you hadn't been hit the whole game. Jumping over balls, watching flying objects pass your body from all angles, contorting in ways you had never discovered (I wonder if there's a correlation between great dodgeball players and future love life). And when you got hit, you joined the circle with your friends, caught a ball, and released your payback.