Congratulations, Indiana! It’s March! Spring is supposed to officially begin this month, on March 20^th, and it can’t come soon enough, let me tell you. After countless board games, fort building contests, and games of hide-and-seek, this mom is ready to go outside and play. That being said, I’ve discovered some things about my home this winter that have surprised me, hidden secrets that I might not have found if we weren’t still huddling inside, so I’ve compiled a list. Here are the things I’ve discovered about my home while hiding from my children during hide-and-seek.

1. Despite commonly held belief, the dryer is not a black hole for socks. Instead, those sneaky little pieces of cotton can be found hiding along the wall underneath a bed. Or stuffed inside a pair of shoes your children haven’t worn since the snow started flying. I’ve already apologized to my dryer.
2. The bottom of a dining room table is the perfect place for small children to store items that might be thrown away if Mom finds them. Bubble gum, small pieces of crayons, and every sticker that they come across will fit conveniently in this centralized location. Those of us who are taller than the table often overlook this benefit until we’re hiding underneath it.
3. The corner of the family room, in between the couch and the loveseat, offers the perfect hiding place, not just for Mom, but also for candy, small toys, Legos, and hair barrettes. They aren’t just out in the open though, you have to run your hand under the bottom of the sofa. It’s like a treasure hunt!
4. Little man has found the perfect hiding spot for his favorite snacks, Cheetos, and it just happens to be inside our VCR. Yes, we still have a VCR (it’s a VCR/DVD player). I didn’t find this while playing hide-and-seek, I found this when we decided to look at some of mom and dad’s old home videos from when we were little.
5. The walls of my home do talk. The fingerprints only a couple of feet up on the doorframe talk. The odd family of toys gathered together for a party talk (ninja turtles meet hello kitty!). The dozens of finger painted papers talk. The little socks that finally match but no longer fit on the little feet talk. And they tell me that time is passing more quickly by the moment, and spring will be here soon enough.

So while my adventures in hide-and-seek might lead to an early spring cleaning, I suppose that I can enjoy a few more weeks indoors, surrounded by the ones I love. I’m Claire, the Afena blog mom. Thanks for reading.