Hide and Seek

My children are hands down the worst hide and seek players...and I never want them to change.

We have been housebound a lot these last two weeks due to both my kids having the hand, food and mouth virus, which means we have been playing a lot of hide and seek.

Here is how hide and seek goes in our house:

Mommy covers her eyes and counts backwards from 10.

The giggles commence as the girls run around the house looking for a place to hide.

Val hides in the exact same spot (behind the princess dresses hanging on the wall in the playroom) and once she is settled in there she counts along with me.

"Free, twoooooooo, one!!! Here I am Mama!!"

Val has been found.

I pick Val up and we go "Find Marlo! Find Marlo!"

I know where Marlo is, because she hasn't stopped giggling since I started counting down from 10. I, of course, play dumb and start the, "is Marlo in the dining room?" bit, to which Marlo responds, "I'm not in there, I'm in the closet!"

I continue to question her whereabouts while Val points to the closet and screams, "Marlo in closet! Marlo in closet!" and I playfully ignore her.

Ultimately Marlo will pop out of the closet and say "I was in the closet Mama!"

Game over.

Then it is my turn to hide.

Marlo and Val both cover their eyes as I run and hide. This could be the cutest thing I have ever seen and heard because Val is only able to count back from 3, so she just says "free, twooo, one!" over and over while Marlo counts back from 10 (this drives Marlo crazy of course.)

I hide in a legitimate hiding spot...behind the curtains, in the closet behind coats, behind a piece of furniture, etc....and they can never find me. Let me correct myself - Marlo can never find me - Val always seems to spot me quickly.

For example, yesterday I hid behind the curtains in the dining room. Let me tell you this important fact - the curtains are sheer. Anyone who looked at the curtains could plainly see my large body hiding behind the curtains, except for my girls.

A minute or two goes by and they haven't found me. Marlo is starting to get annoyed that I am not answering her when she asks where I am, so I say, in a funny voice, "I'm over here."

They run right by me.

Say it again Mama!

The come in the room, look out the window that I am clearly standing next to behind the curtains, and still don't see me.

Then Val spots me, "'ere she is!!!! 'ere she is!!" (Val speaks with a cockney accent obviously.)

Marlo comes in the room, stands next to Val, who is now pointing at me behind the curtains and laughing hysterically and still doesn't see me...until I jump out and scare the living daylights out of her. Good times.

So if you are ever looking to win a few bucks off my kids, ask them to play hide and seek and bet on them losing...every time. I wish they would stay this young and cute forever.