Over the River and Through the Woods...
My parents live just outside St. Louis, about 120 miles from our home, so we are able to visit fairly often. Last Sunday, we went over to hang out with them for several hours before heading to the airport to pick up my husband after dinner. "We", in this instance, was me, my 16 year old son, and my 13 year old daughter.
As we were nearing their home, I had a little attack of the zanies and thought: Why not make a whole bunch of little notes and hide them in my parents' home for them to find one at a time after we leave? Just for the fun of it.
I bounced the idea off the kids, whose response was, well -- not exactly eager. But they agreed, being known to humor me on schemes like this. So I pulled into a Walgreens only a couple blocks from the folks' house, bought a box of little decorative note papers, some colored gel pens, and a package of stickers. Then we headed to a McDonalds, ordered a light bite, and wrote silly notes.
To their credit, the kids really let themselves get drawn into the activity and came up with some of the most clever notes. I especially liked "When I grow up I want to be a billboard" and "I once was lost, but now am found..." and "Next time, you hide and I'll seek." There were famous lines from movies, clever quips, and silly nonsense. In all, we penned about 50 of the little missives.
But that wasn't the best part. No, the best part was hiding the notes without being discovered. It was a hoot! We decided to locate the stash in the pocket of my jacket which hung on a peg in the hallway. We would then walk past the jacket at various intervals, lift a few of the prepared notes, then sneak them into places we thought would be discovered over the next few days, weeks and months. There are a couple of notes that may not turn up for several years. We'll see...
The kids got more and more into the game the longer we played. Several times I'd think of a clever hiding spot only to find that the kids had already beat me to it! We came close to being discovered before we left, but fortunately they didn't lift or open any of the objects while we were still there. I'm not going to reveal the actual hiding places because my mom reads my blog : ) , but you could probably guess a whole bunch of them. Then again, maybe we were indeed clever...
My mom recalled the telltale signs of our clandestine operation after the fact. She had asked my daughter twice during our visit if she'd like to play games on Grandpa's computer, thinking her milling around meant she was bored. Of course, she later realized the behavior was due to our little game. We got a phone call on the second day. Seems it took finding more than just one note to figure out they'd been the objects of our caper. When I said they had about 48 to go, well...
Next time you're invited over to a good friend's or a family member's home, perhaps you'd like to hide lighthearted notes too. Extend your visit without actually overstaying your welcome. And you might even find yourself smiling as you think about them for days or weeks afterward too.
Let the games begin!
As we were nearing their home, I had a little attack of the zanies and thought: Why not make a whole bunch of little notes and hide them in my parents' home for them to find one at a time after we leave? Just for the fun of it.
I bounced the idea off the kids, whose response was, well -- not exactly eager. But they agreed, being known to humor me on schemes like this. So I pulled into a Walgreens only a couple blocks from the folks' house, bought a box of little decorative note papers, some colored gel pens, and a package of stickers. Then we headed to a McDonalds, ordered a light bite, and wrote silly notes.
To their credit, the kids really let themselves get drawn into the activity and came up with some of the most clever notes. I especially liked "When I grow up I want to be a billboard" and "I once was lost, but now am found..." and "Next time, you hide and I'll seek." There were famous lines from movies, clever quips, and silly nonsense. In all, we penned about 50 of the little missives.
But that wasn't the best part. No, the best part was hiding the notes without being discovered. It was a hoot! We decided to locate the stash in the pocket of my jacket which hung on a peg in the hallway. We would then walk past the jacket at various intervals, lift a few of the prepared notes, then sneak them into places we thought would be discovered over the next few days, weeks and months. There are a couple of notes that may not turn up for several years. We'll see...
The kids got more and more into the game the longer we played. Several times I'd think of a clever hiding spot only to find that the kids had already beat me to it! We came close to being discovered before we left, but fortunately they didn't lift or open any of the objects while we were still there. I'm not going to reveal the actual hiding places because my mom reads my blog : ) , but you could probably guess a whole bunch of them. Then again, maybe we were indeed clever...
My mom recalled the telltale signs of our clandestine operation after the fact. She had asked my daughter twice during our visit if she'd like to play games on Grandpa's computer, thinking her milling around meant she was bored. Of course, she later realized the behavior was due to our little game. We got a phone call on the second day. Seems it took finding more than just one note to figure out they'd been the objects of our caper. When I said they had about 48 to go, well...
Next time you're invited over to a good friend's or a family member's home, perhaps you'd like to hide lighthearted notes too. Extend your visit without actually overstaying your welcome. And you might even find yourself smiling as you think about them for days or weeks afterward too.
Let the games begin!
posted by Linda at
11:36 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home