Reid and I were playing hide-and-seek earlier this week and Reid decided that hiding on the second floor would be the most fun. Actually, Reid told me that she was going to hide under Daddy’s bed and then she giggled in anticipation. I had to count to 20 and then hunt for her. By 13 or so, Reid was calling for me. I came upstairs and looked for her in her bedroom and closet, in the main bathroom, our closet and the our bathroom. All the while, Reid was giggling. I don’t know how other people play hide and seek with small children but Ken and I have always called out the places where we’re looking for her. It prolongs the game since we don’t have that many places in which she can hide, it gives her ideas of places to hide and it drowned out the near-constant calls of “I’m here!” that were so common when Reid was very small. Now, the giggles give her away more than words, although she still talks sometimes. Eventually, I found her (you guessed it) under Daddy’s bed. (I’m just someone who tries to sleep there ;+)
When it was my turn to hide, I snuck into the bathroom and had a solitary bathroom break. For whatever reason, Reid didn’t look there. It was such a treat to do my business, as it were, all by myself. Of course, Clio came in to eat but she didn’t touch me or talk to me or anything like that. When Reid called out for me, I went to find *her*. She never even spotted me leaving the bathroom. Reid asked where I’d been hiding and I told her that I didn’t want to lose my super-good hiding place. I managed to see through the trickery in Reid’s invitation for me to whisper in her ear where I had been hiding, as though keeping it from the *cats* had been my intention. Reid has subsequently asked me several times to tell her where I was hiding. She even says, “please” without prompting. I’ve stayed mum and I hope you won’t let my best-ever hiding place slip.