Hiding the Giant

We have a new favorite game at my house.  It is called “Hiding the Giant.”  Actually, when Edward says it he says “Hiding the Gi-nant,” and technically I suppose it should be called “Hiding FROM the Giant,” but whatever you want to call it, we play it all the time.

The game goes something like this.  One or more of my children runs up to me with a blanket, throws the blanket over my head, climbs under it with me and yells “We have to hide the gi-nant!” (or “We have to hide from the giant” if Ruby is playing).  Then we wait, huddled under the blanket, for my wife to come over and say “FEE FIE FO FUM!  I need a place to put my bum!”  And then she sits on us and everyone giggles.  The game ends when we throw the blanket back and yell “Mama!  It’s just us!”  She then realizes that we are not a chair for giants to sit on, acts surprised, and walks away.

We do this about twelve million times, or until one of the grownups gets tired of either walking back and forth from whatever they were doing, or having a blanket and children pressed into their face for long periods of time.  There are variations to the game of course.  The more we play it, the more we need to mix it up a little.  For instance, sometimes we take turns being the giant.  Or sometimes I have to be the giant the whole time.  Or sometimes we play it while my wife is at work, so when we hide and the giant does not appear, we peek out from the blanket and I say “Where’s the giant?” and Edward says “The giant’s at work.”

I have to say, it is a pretty fun game that does not usually result in property damage, so I am in favor of it being played as much as possible.  It is certainly better than “Throw Toys Down the Stairs,” or “Spit on Your Sister.”  But no matter how great of a game it is, it will still never be quite as good as my favorite games for children, “Clean Up Your Room,” or “Play Quietly By Yourself.”