The Games Children Play

Clio seems to have reached the age where she likes to play organized games. In fact, she likes to play them over and over again. Her favorite of these games is known simply as "find me." Here's how it goes:

First, Clio "hides" in one of very few spots (depending on where we are in the house): behind the TV cabinet, behind a magazine while sitting at the kitchen table, and in Dave's closet or behind the towels in the bathroom if we're upstairs. Then she says "Find me" and the person obeying this command must "look for her" all around the room. I prefer to consider this a purely verbal exercise, so I will sit on the couch, for example, and put forth a running narrative of places Clio might be, but is not: "Is Clio... under the table? Noooo. Is Clio... behind her easel? Noooo. Is Clio... in the shoe cabinet? Noooo." (Sometimes she helps with the refrain of "noooo.") I'll throw in some really silly hiding spots just for fun, like "swinging from the chandelier" or "up on top of the refrigerator" or "in Stella's cradle." Eventually, she'll say "Here I am!" and then we make a big fuss. (Keep in mind that you can see the hiding spot behind the TV cabinet if you are sitting on the couch, making the hiding and finding premise a little nonsensical... unless you are just two.)

This is a game that Clio "invented" with me, and the first time Dave was asked to play, he was a little surprised by what comes next. Clio does not emerge from her hiding spot, but looks you right in the eye and says "now find me AGAIN" and you repeat the whole exercise, even though she's hiding in the same place and everyone obviously knows where she is. Dave even tried to get her to hide someplace else, but to Clio this is not an important (or, come to think of it, even a viable) part of the game. He did succeed in getting her to try to find him, though. Here she is, counting to eleven.


(Apparently, "round numbers" is a lost concept to a child. Who ever decided we should count just to 10, anyway?)