​This week after a run-in with a ridiculously antagonistic person in my life that made my blood boil, I decided we needed to dance and bounce out all that negative energy. “We” meaning me and my two adorable charges, R and C. These delightful girls are my sanity, joy, and reason to get up many mornings. R is three, and C is her one-year-old sister. I take care of them every morning while their mommy teaches part time. To exorcise all that animosity threatening to suffocate me, we blasted “Swan Lake” and piled pillows and blankets, and we jumped, pirouetted, spun, and bounced on my bed while Tchaikovsky vanquished all those bad vibes. ​It reminds me of a day when my kids were four and we were stuck inside and I was at wit’s end. My mommy patience was thin and my four were bored. I needed a purge of sorts, to cleanse me from negativity. I decided it was time for a game of Extreme Hide–n-Seek. No easily found hiding places in this game. This was not your ordinary “you’re standing right there” pre-school game. When the count started, I started shoving kids in any space that would hold a small child. We used a laundry hamper with lid, kitchen cabinets, a large antique dresser with enormously deep drawers, and even a wardrobe. (No, they didn’t disappear into Narnia, but that would have been a trip!) A hard day turned into a memorable, fantastic experience of delight with plenty of laughter. And I got some of the clutter in my shelves and cabinets cleaned out!
 
(Pictures are of some of the hiding places once each of the kids was found and I snapped a photo to show Dad when he got home.)