My Interesting Shabbat

This week I called a Chabad rabbi to find out where the closest Chabad rabbi is in relation to where I live. I wanted a free Shabbat meal. He told me he was the closest to Glebe and invited me over. When I talked with his wife, she invited me to sleep over so I wouldn't have to walk back by myself, which I readily agreed to. I arrived at their home a little disheveled as a result of getting lost for a while. It turns out I am very bad at following directions because I only really pick up bits of directions given, and inevitably they are the parts that start "Don't do this..." and then I do that thing.
Anyway, I arrived at the Rabbi's house right before Shabbat started. I was greeted by three adorable children, Menachem who is 7, Libby who is 5, and Moshe who is 3.
Libby was wearing a special pink Shabbas robe with matching pants underneath.
"Do I look like a boy?" she asked me. I stared at her, trying to understand why anyone would think she looks like a boy. She was literally wearing a pink robe and her long hair was in pig tails.
"Why would anybody think you look like a boy?" I asked her, honestly puzzled.
"Because I am wearing pants" she responds, pointing to her ankles.
I lit candles and then started playing with the children, Menachem and Libby (aged 7 and 5 respectively). I agreed to play a board game and the next thing I know, we are playing chess. First I played versus the two of them playing on a team, however Libby wasn't good at teamwork, she always wanted to move the pieces although it was clear Menachem was the better player. Libby kept getting upset and was slowly turning petulant. Every time she lost a piece, her brow became little more furrowed and her bottom lip started sticking out farther and farther. Grandiosely I offered to let Menachem  play on my team, but when we started winning Libby quickly charged us with the heinous crime of cheating!
"Menachem is cheating!" she wailed.
"I'm not cheating," Menachem countered.
"I know you are not cheating," Libby responded, instantly changing her story in the face of opposition "I meant she is cheating" she said, standing in the doorway pointing her finger at me.
Lesson number one I learned from this weekend: when you are beating a 5 year old girl at chess, she will accuse you of cheating and honestly believe that the only reason she is losing is because everyone is trying to trick her.
Later as we sat down for dinner, Libby turned to me and asked "Why isn't your shirt covering your elbows?" I was not quite sure how to respond to her, so I dug my elbows into my sides and tried to distract her with another children's book about Judaism.
Lesson number two I learned this weekend: children ask extremely awkward questions and will call you out for not living up to their standards
All these experiences amounted to a very interesting Friday night. I actually really enjoyed myself, and it left me with a very good feeling about Judaism. And then I came back to Glebe on Saturday after going to the Great Synagogue for shul, and went to a gay parade with my roommates.
All in all, an extremely interesting experience.