Hide and Seek

This week with hubby out of town, I needed to find alternative child-care arrangements. A friend (whom my kids know well enough but one who had never watched them a full day) generously offered to come to my house for the day. My day started off with a hormone headache which was compounded by three hours in stale cigarette smoke and not enough lunch. I was just pulling up to the curb at my afternoon appointment when my cell phone rang.

"Joy? I just need you to listen." Okay
"Your son is missing." What???? He wanted to play outside and someone snatched him.
"Are there any places in the house where he likes to hide?" Are we sure he's still in the house?

After asking questions and confirming that there was no way he could've gotten outside, nor was he in any of the bathrooms, I was really confused and growing more concerned. She had checked through the house at least twice already.

The younger kids were reportedly playing nicely in the living room, so I sent my friend on a treasure hunt.
"Check the cupboard behind the couch."
"What about the coat closet - he can open those doors and used to hide in there a lot."
"Did he crawl into the dog's cage downstairs? We were talking about it yesterday."
Where could this kid be? He's never done this before.... Is she sure he's in the house?
"Go upstairs. He sometimes goes in my closet or my bathroom. Check under the bed, too. It's a tall bed."
"What about behind the rocking chair in Thing Two's room?"
"Check his closet - he can get in there and it's hard to get out."

Sure enough, that's where he was. Hiding in his closet. I apparently maintained a calm veneer, but inside my imagination was filled with police helicopters and bloodhounds. At that moment, Todd came home and in relief, my friend hung up. I didn't have the opportunity to decompress as I then attended my afternoon appointment with another 2 hours of stale cigarette smoke. And I think I have yet to get the full story, but in the words of Pa Ingalls, "all's well that ends well."