Hide and Seek

This story isn’t really a story about Emma. It’s really just a snapshot of our family life and I thought it might provide a well-needed dose of comic relief.

One evening we decided to play some hide and seek before bedtime. I’m guessing that Emma was about 7 at the time and Sarah was about 3. It was dark and cold outside, so we were playing inside. Emma hid first, then Sarah, and then it was my turn. I ducked inside one of the two closets in our front hall and waited to be discovered. I heard Peter, Emma, and Sarah’s voices get far away. “They’re very cold,” I thought. While I waited for them to get back on the trail, I surveyed my surroundings. Even in the dark, I could tell that the closet needed to be cleaned. Add that to the list of things to do this week. That made me think of a long list of other things I needed to do. I proceeded mentally through my week, prioritizing activities and making lists. It was amazing how easily I could do this mental organizing in the quiet of a dark closet. I was kind of enjoying myself.

I was pretty lost in this train of thought when I heard the voices getting closer. “Oh, they’re getting warmer. Finally!” And it really wasn’t until that moment that I thought about how much time had gone by. I had been sitting in that closet, completely wrapped up in my own thoughts for close to 10 minutes! “Wow, they can’t be looking very hard for me,” I was thinking and I admit, I was a little peeved by the lack of effort. I listened very closely to their voices, trying to perceive whether I had any chance of being found. I was in the hall closet, for gosh sakes. Isn’t that first place everyone looks when you're playing hide and seek? They were now just beyond the hallway in the living room and I could hear their conversation perfectly. They were talking about a board game and I could hear the pieces getting rustled about as the game was being set up. And that’s when I realized they weren’t looking for me.

I emerged from the closet and they looked up at me from the floor where they were sitting around the board game. “What were you doing in the closet?” Peter asked. “I was hiding!!!” I said, quite annoyed. “How come you weren’t looking for me?” “Oh, we stopped playing that game a long time ago,” said Emma.

P.S.
I can’t resist this opportunity to have you all settle a little family dispute. Is it “Hide and Seek” or “Hide and Go Seek”? You can see from the title of the post where I come out on this question.