Courtesy of Rex Bowlby. This activity has two purposes: to have fun and to tire the kids out. And it works!

“Go hide. I’ll count to 100 and then come looking for you,” I claimed.

“ONE, TWO.” Let’s see what’s on TV. No. (select) No. (select) They’re still in reruns?
“EIGHT, NINE.” Nothing on. Maybe I’ll go make a sandwich. Bread, mayo, knife . . .
“SIXTEEN, SEVENTEEN—I’M ALMOST TO ONE HUNDRED.” Chips, milk . . .
“TWENTY-SIX, TWENTY-SEVEN.” Think I’ll sit in the easy chair and read a magazine.
“FORTY-ONE.” Let’s see. Oh, look Laughter is the Best Medicine. My favorite . . .
“FIFTY-SIX, FIFTY-SEVEN.” Yummm, good sandwich . . .
“I’M JUST ABOUT THERE. YOU BETTER BE HIDDEN.” Need to clip these darn nails . . .
“SEVENTY-EIGHT, SEVENTY-NINE.” Clip. Clip. Clip . . .
“EIGHTY-SEVEN.” Oh look, a ball game’s on television!
“TWENTY-SIX, TWENTY-SEVEN . . . . ”

OK, you’re right, it is a dirty trick, however, I only did it one time. No doubt I was exhausted and just didn’t have the energy to play. Actually, I really enjoy the game. One of its more interesting aspects is the variety of laughter that erupts from my children when we’re playing. Here are nine examples and the kind of LAUGHTER produced:

1. I hide and scare them by jumping toward them and blurting out, “Boo!” (HYSTERICAL)

2. I hide and make a short, sharp, noise to the degree they hear it, but can’t tell where the sound is coming from. (NERVOUS)

3. They hide, and I talk loudly about how hard they are to find. (SUPPRESSED)

4. They hide, and I sneak up and shriek, “There you are!” (FRIGHTENED)

5. I hide, then move to a place where I know they have already looked and let them find me. I then convince them I have been there all along. (FRUSTRATED)

6. I hide in the bathroom, flush the toilet, then move somewhere else. (NERVOUS)

7. When I hide behind the easy chair, I peer up over it so they eventually see me from the nose up. (FRIGHTENED)

8. I hide and then throw a ball across the room as a diversion. They run to where it lands. (NERVOUS)

9. When I’m tired of playing, I go hide in the car. When my children can’t find me, they go to Mom who is instructed to tell them, “When Daddy gets tired, he disappears into thin air and wakes up in a daze on the floor of the car.” When they find me, they always tell me we should stop playing until I feel better. (SUBDUED)

Yes, I know—another dirty trick.

Tag: Parenting

Rex Bowlby is the father of two boys. He is the author of the book, Why Would I Want the Toy, When I Can Have the Box? (101 Ways to Make the Most of Your Children, With the Least from Your Wallet*) *For parents with children ages 3-8. He lives in Los Angeles, California, USA.

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This entry was posted on Saturday, June 3rd, 2006 at 9:24 pm and is filed under 02-03 yrs: Toddler, 03-05 yrs: Preschooler, 05-12 yrs: Schooler, Crafts and Activities. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.