Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Mr. Hide

"Let's play Hide and Seek!" was the greeting I received as I entered our living room on Sunday. 

Despite the fact that I had a lingering cold and nasty cough the result of which had me feeling like death left out on the counter with the lid off all night, I simply couldn't refuse.  The forces that hold the fabric of the universe together (well, this one anyway) would be in serious jeopardy if I begged off.  I am Daddy and that's my job.

"Sure Buddy" I responded with a smile.  "Okay Daddy, you go and hide and I will find you!" Lukas instructed me.  And with that I was off to find a suitable place to hide from my 3 year old. 

As I mentioned I wasn't feeling all that well so naturally the creative center of my brain, which I am convinced must be roughly the size of a grain of rice and buried deep down - somewhere behind the primal stem perhaps? - wasn't exactly firing on all cylinders.  My first attempt to hide found me squeezed into a corner behind a wall one room over. This seemed reasonable, since in past renditions of the game this usually worked pretty well.

This time Lukas found me in 5 seconds flat.  "Okay, let me try this again"  I said then went off and hid behind the inward opening bathroom door, which was a surefire bet for causing lots of searching.  But again I was found by a grinning boy, with little effort. Likewise I met with similar FAILS when attempting to hide under the covers of the bed, and also standing near the back entry way with a backpack held in front of my body.   Lukas is older now, and obviously wise to all my dated hiding ploys.

Then I realized that I had be more creative.  By this time I was smiling and laughing a lot which helped spark a new idea.  "Stay here and count to 10 Buddy" I told him as I left him in the upstairs bedroom and entered the hallway.  Then I lifted the rather squeaky baby gate that still closes off the stairway to the main floor and fake stomped a few times to make it sound like I was going down to hide. 

Then, with my 40 plus year old Ninja skills I slipped quietly into the bathroom with nary a squeak of the Fir floors listening as Lukas came out and immediately headed downstairs to look for me.  "Daddy, where are you?" he called from down in the living room, to my obvious pleasure.  Yes! Point to Dad.  Even though he is getting good at this game, I proved I still have a few tricks up my sleeve.

I have a feeling I should enjoy it while I can, though.  My days are most definitely numbered.

13 comments:

Barbara L said...

Definitely going to have to hone those hiding skills. They don't stay little long, do they?

Mrs. M said...

Haha - We have to play "dirty" and try to confuse our kids too! Those buggers are super smart. :)

Oh and I can totally relate to the death left on the counter comment - that is how I feel today.

Homemaker Man said...

I play that game too, but not just when we're playing hide and seek. It can be damn hard to shake the bastards.

James (SeattleDad) said...

@Barbara - No they don't. Sadly.'

@Mighty M - Alls fair in Love and Hide and Seek.

@Homemaker Man - Obviously you taught them too well.

SciFi Dad said...

While I was waiting for my daughter to finish dance class I watched another father play hide and seek with his three-ish daughter in the halls (there are curves and alcoves so it was a reasonable locale).

So she hides, and he finds her. Then he hides, and she turns in the wrong direction to seek. It took about 3 seconds before she was in full out panic freakout mode.

Made me laugh.

Unknown said...

We haven't graduated to full on hide N seek, although the variations of peek-a-boo have become much more elaborate. I am locking your tips and tricks away in the vault (or sieve like material that masquerades as my grey matter) for future reference.

Jack said...

One of my favorite memories for both of my children is when it became evident that they had learned how to reason out places I might or might not be hiding.

We don't play as often as we used to, but my ten year-old has learned to try and use decoys.

These kids are way too much fun.

Diplo_Daddy said...

I too play this game with my five year old. He’s way too good. To my surprise, he’s actually pretty good at finding clever little hiding spots, when it’s my turn to try and find him.

Captain Dumbass said...

Being sick as well I would have hidden in bed with the blankets pulled over my head.

Lady Mama said...

I've pulled some really sneaky ones on my kids - jumping out after they've been looking for me for five minutes with everyone screaming. Sometimes I have wonder who the real child is...

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Anonymous said...

It's not fair playing with the Mini-Kamp cuz she can hide under the sofa.

Anonymous said...

We play this in reverse. I open the gate to get to my daughter up from her nap and my son goes to hide. Fortunately he giggles so much it isn't hard to find him. That and we live in a smurf house.