hide-and-seek

Lately, we’ve been playing a lot of hide-and-seek around our house.  It started as a fun little game when Beau would get home from work; Cruz and I would go hide and wait quietly for him to find us.  This soon turned into a routine part of our night, where the three of us take turns finding new and inventive hiding spots in our 1,000 square foot house.  In other words, we rotate through the five good hiding spots on our main floor --- the coat closet, bathtub, teepee, under the bed, or under the covers on the bed, and pretend to look for Cruz by meandering through the house and saying things like, “hmm…has anyone seen Cruz?” or “I wonder where Cruz could be” before suddenly exposing the giggling mastermind with tickles and kisses.  It’s fun and almost always leads to an uncontrollable spell of giggles.  You know, the giggles that cure the worst of days and force a smile on your face even when you’re in the bitterest of moods.  The best kind of giggles. 

Last night, our game of hide-and-seek took on a whole new level.  We played for an hour, taking turns hiding and attempting to keep Cruz from giggling when the finder recited the puzzled, “Where could they be?” line.  See, if you’ve ever played hide-and-seek with a two year old, you know they are usually incredibly easy to find simply because they have a very hard time controlling their excitement and patience when they’re having a good time.  It’s what I love about little kids.  So as the finder drags out the suspense of it all, the hider gets to watch as Cruz (who always insists on hiding) enters this amazing world of play, pretend, and happy.  He crouches in the dark space, usually reaching for your hand or putting his forehead up to yours as if he desires to spill some of his anticipation off to his safety net.  He looks at you, eyes deep with excitement, sometimes unable to control it and blurting out a giggle, or a yell, or by wrapping his arms tightly around your neck.  He is at his happiest when we are in this world.

Last night, we added flashlights to our game, which soon turned into a game of pirates.  Cruz and I hid in the closet as Beau, or Captain Hook, attempted to get at us by sticking clothes’ hangers under the door.  We used our flashlights to light up the dark closet, which soon led to stories of lost treasure and bears and gold doubloons.  We played until it was bedtime and tucked a tired little boy in his bed after books of wild things and red trucks and rocket ships, three of Cruz's favorite things...

This is an image I hope to remember about my family.  The night when the world just kind of melts away around us and leaves us caught up in our own game of hide-and-seek.