Under the place mat

I'm under the green place mat. More specifically, I'm sitting on the floor beside the table under a green place mat. Obviously, I'm hiding. A few minutes ago, Tahlia was under the very same place mat, but she has decided that Daddy had too much fun and now she must indulge.

It all started after I finished cleaning the raspberry sorbet off of her face; the largest quantity, of course, collected on her forehead. I left the room with the bowl and spoon, and when I returned, Tahlia was nowhere to be found. Well, that is not entirely true. To the untrained parent eye, it would be clear that she was still sitting on her chair under her green knit place mat. Untrained parent eyes would have immediately asked why she had the place mat on her head, but, with my trained parent eye, I saw an opportunity to have some fun, although some may state this was an opportunity to teach poor table manners. Seeing her under the mat, I exclaimed to Mommy, "Oh no! I've lost Tahlia!"

Mommy ran into the room with mock fear from the kitchen with a screaming Asher in her arms and said, "Daddy, I think she may be under the place mat." Asher immediately fell silent as this little child attempted to make sense, once again, of one of the many situations that occur in our house that make no sense.

I looked around as if in a daze, then proceeded to peer under all of the mats on the table, proclaiming after each that she wasn't under it. After each examination, a small giggle would emanate from the Fisher Price Booster seat in which Tahlia sat.

As the choices of mats dwindled, Mommy began using the Tahlia-look-to-the-side to indicate to me where the little girl was hiding. This look is used when Tahlia is being reticent and does not want someone to know her true intentions. Rather than pointing, or looking directly at something, she strains her eyes to the side to indicate the specific location or item to which she is referring. As Daddy is a dunce, he was blind to this obvious tactic; however, Tahlia took much glee from Mommy's antics.

Before I could locate the little one, she grew bored and decided that I needed to hide and she needed to go around and look under every place mat.

That is how I ended up under the place mat. Unfortunately, I'll probably be under here all night since, after looking under three of the place mats, she has become enamored with her baby brother who is about to go to bed and forgotten all about me. I think few would have realized that such an obvious location could be so effective under which to hide.