Hide-and-Seek With Kids
As a mom my eyes have been opened to a new world of Hide-and-Seek. Gone are the days when I assumed that only one version of this game existed. Hide-and-Seek, I've learned can be played with people, pets, and things. Here are a few of my favorite versions with two of my favorite people.
As a mom my eyes have been opened to a new world of Hide-and-Seek. Gone are the days when I assumed that only one version of this game existed. Hide-and-Seek, I've learned can be played with people, pets, and things. Here are a few of my favorite versions with two of my favorite people.
First, we have the traditional hide-and-seek. Everyone knows this game. Either I hide and you try to find me or you hide and I try to find you. If I'm being totally honest, I have always loved this game, and wish that it was socially acceptable for adults to play this without a little kid having to be present. But since I do have little kids, I can play away without fear of judgment. However, I'm not sure if it's due to their ages, my girls are 2 and 5, but my kids suck at this game. They can unintentionally disappear to the most obscure places, but if I tell them to hide they think that they have suddenly become chameleons and can blend in with their surroundings in the wide open. I've seen feet sticking out from behind curtains the most . Sometimes I feel like asking, "Seriously, how could I NOT find you there?" But I don't, I do the obligatory "where are they" and "nope, not here" for at least a few minutes before I "find" them. I'm sure as they get older the hiding will get more creative and then I'll have to worry about them hiding somewhere and getting stuck. I just read an article this week about a girl getting stuck in a washing machine for an hour before the fire department had to come help her out. On that note, please enjoy the following ancient episode of rescue 911 where a game of hide-and-seek goes awry. The delicious southern accents and Elvis mention are a bonus.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lEfQ1o6To40
The next version of hide-and-seek I discovered shortly after my firstborn began to walk. I like to call it the Can't-Touch-This-Hide-and-Seek. This is where I hide items from my kids that are dangerous, or messy, or that I just don't need lost. (Get it? You can't touch this so I'm hiding it). Here's where the game gets tricky, very often I find that I hide things from the kids so well that when I need them I can no longer find them. No one in this house thinks this game fun. Least of all my husband who is often recruited to help me find my lost things.
I find I am losing more things this way as the kids get older. Right now I really have only two places in the house that the kids cannot reach; a tall shelf in my bedroom and on top of the refrigerator. This is why the top of the refrigerator looks like something out of hoarders.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lEfQ1o6To40
The next version of hide-and-seek I discovered shortly after my firstborn began to walk. I like to call it the Can't-Touch-This-Hide-and-Seek. This is where I hide items from my kids that are dangerous, or messy, or that I just don't need lost. (Get it? You can't touch this so I'm hiding it). Here's where the game gets tricky, very often I find that I hide things from the kids so well that when I need them I can no longer find them. No one in this house thinks this game fun. Least of all my husband who is often recruited to help me find my lost things.
I find I am losing more things this way as the kids get older. Right now I really have only two places in the house that the kids cannot reach; a tall shelf in my bedroom and on top of the refrigerator. This is why the top of the refrigerator looks like something out of hoarders.
Evidently the more creativity I have to use on hiding something, the more memory I lose. This is why whenever I do a major cleaning sweep of the house I'll find that I have bought the same item several times because I couldn't find the previously hidden one and just replaced it. This seems to happen often with deodorant. The 2 year-old loves to destroy deodorant, so I have to hide it. The kids still manage to find ways to access my hiding spots. Here we have the little one climbing her way to the shelf where the markers are stored and using the piano bench to get to the Christmas candy jar. But I'm afraid I will have to keep playing this version until my kids are old enough to not destroy everything they touch.
Another version I discovered shortly after having my first is what I call Mom-Brain-Hide-and-Seek. This is where you have so much going on that you put something somewhere where it has NO place being. This one is a particular pain because when you go to find something lost you look in all the usual places first, but when you play Mom-Brain-Hide-and-Seek they are never in the usual places. I have found the TV remote in the freezer and my wedding rings in the change jar because of this. My husband gets particularly annoyed when I play this. But if he only knew that at any given moment I have about a million thoughts vying for attention then he would cut me a little slack for being so scatter brained.
Another version I discovered shortly after having my first is what I call Mom-Brain-Hide-and-Seek. This is where you have so much going on that you put something somewhere where it has NO place being. This one is a particular pain because when you go to find something lost you look in all the usual places first, but when you play Mom-Brain-Hide-and-Seek they are never in the usual places. I have found the TV remote in the freezer and my wedding rings in the change jar because of this. My husband gets particularly annoyed when I play this. But if he only knew that at any given moment I have about a million thoughts vying for attention then he would cut me a little slack for being so scatter brained.
The last one I like to call Hide-and-Sleep. This is my younger daughter's favorite game and has aged me considerably. She likes to hide under furniture or bury herself under things and go to sleep. I am one of those moms that knows that if my kids aren't in front of me and they go quiet, something wrong is going down. Normally when I go to check I will find the 5 year old playing alone. I always ask her where the little one has went to and always get an, "I don't know". This is mainly because once the little one gets tired she sneaks away to sleep. And despite my best efforts it freaks me out every time when I can't immediately find her. She has buried herself in clothes in the laundry basket, hidden behind the clothes hanging in my closet, and crawled into an open clothes drawer to fall asleep, just to name a few. Once she goes to sleep she is out and will not answer me no matter how much I call for her. This has caused quite a few panic attacks. If only she could put that much effort into our legit Hide-and-Seek games. Here are a couple of her favorite places, under my bed and in a plastic bin that holds toys in her closet. Do you see her in the toy bin? She's wearing purple pants and a multi-colored cheetah print shirt. Oh, and she's covered by a blanket and toys so that you have no chance of finding her at first glance.
Almost every time we play the Hide-and-Sleep game I have a brief moment of, "Oh God, what if someone broke into the house and kidnapped her?" Because apparently I am just that neurotic.
Here's to hoping you have a blast playing Hide-and-Seek with your little ones. No matter which version you like to play.
Almost every time we play the Hide-and-Sleep game I have a brief moment of, "Oh God, what if someone broke into the house and kidnapped her?" Because apparently I am just that neurotic.
Here's to hoping you have a blast playing Hide-and-Seek with your little ones. No matter which version you like to play.
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