Who says what?

Novelist, mother, minister, and yoga teacher muses on books, babies, motherhood, and what matters with reverent humor.

Friday, January 22, 2010

Hide and Seek with Sass

My daughter's current obsession is hide and seek. She is so devoted to this game that she constantly plays it. If I'm holding her, she'll cover her eyes and press into my chest--pretending to hide, of course--and then demand that I count to ten and find her. The second her little feet hit the floor, she is off to hide somewhere, anywhere, including in plain sight.

In addition to her own hiding antics, she insists that "Mama hide." Sometimes I get sneaky and run off to a real hiding place behind the sofa or under the table, but often, suffering from exhausted mom syndrome (did I mention she is getting all four of her canine teeth and is therefore waking up once or twice a night as well as rising earlier and ditching her nap? Because really, I should mention that), I play Lazy-Mama-Hide and Seek. (You're welcome to borrow it.)

Here's what it consists of: rolling into a ball on the floor and covering your eyes. That's pretty much it. I find it truly relaxing.

Now when I try and find my daughter, I always act as though I can't see her--even though I always do--and when it's finally time to "honestly" find her, I'll say something like, "I see a little foot!" Or "I see a pink jacket!" Or "I see some one's little back." I have, apparently, been an excellent teacher of this game. My daughter found me the other day, curled up about two feet from where she was standing, next to the ottoman on the floor. She walked right over to me and said: "I see a big bum!"

Now, this is her standard line whenever she finds me hiding. Not that my bum is so big...it's just so mcuh bigger than hers. Of course.

2 comments:

  1. You are such a great storyteller! You have taken something as routine as playing hide and seek with your daughter and made it fun to read!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hey, that's what they pay me for...
    Wait. My kids don't pay me. My husband doesn't pay me...

    ReplyDelete