I was playing hide and seek with Zander today – actually for the first time. He had this idea that he would hide and call out to me – “come find meâ€. At first I was caught up in getting things done for work so that I could take the next week off without ‘too many’ worries. I didn’t want to stop to play with him, but reluctantly I did.
After a couple of half attempts to ‘find’ him and get back to my computer, he comes to me and says, “your turn daddy! Go hide!â€. I realized that he has never played hide and seek and came by the game naturally. So I turned off the monitor, stopped being annoyed, and started to cherish the moments I had with him. I explained to him that he had to count to 10 and then come find me. He counted, then ran straight to me – I was ‘hiding’ down the hall.
So being ‘it’ I told him to go hide, while I counted to 10. I shouted out, “Ready or Not, here I come!â€Â Then despite the fact that I knew he was hiding in the den, I walked around the house, jumping around corners shouting “Gotcha!†then in a disappointed tone I would say, “No, he’s not hiding hereâ€. Each time I would hear Zander giggle in the den. Finally, I got to the den and he took off running. I chased him around the house, both of us laughing and sliding in our socks. He naturally ran to ‘base’ where I had counted.
Then he started, “1, 2, 3…â€Â I started looking for a place to hide. “4, 5, 6…†I decided on hiding behind the kitchen island. “7, 8, 9…†My heart was racing, “10! Ready or Not, Here I come!â€Â Zander copied my example to a tee – shouting “Gotcha†and “Nope, you’re not in here†as he want around the house. Then he jumped into the kitchen and the race was on! We had a lot of fun and I’m glad I took the time.
Well, Zander isn’t the only child of mine shouting “Ready or Not, Here I come!â€Â Today is the eve of the BIG day! Dianne is coming over around 6:30 am to watch Zander. Stephanie is packed. The appointment is at 8:00 am. Everything is set, everything is ready – well… not everything. I’m not. In less than 24 hours I will have a new child in the world, and a daughter at that! Alexis Carol Sackrider is almost here.
I look forward to many great moments with her like I had with Zander today, but I also dread the first time she falls down, the first time she is disappointed, the first time she is embarrassed. I don’t even want to consider first boyfriends, first dates, first kisses. Ready or Not…Here she comes!