Hide & Seek... Mall Style

Today we passed by a JCPenney and it reminded me of a day last year when Chris & I somehow got involved in a game of Hide & Seek that got way out of hand. We were at a JCPenney in our mall in Florida and, while waiting to pay for some merchandise, Chris was getting fidgety. So, I decided to take him down the escalator to entertain him while Steve paid for our things. As we were waiting for him at the bottom of the escalator, Chris & I started singing songs and playing around poking each other and before I knew it, he just took off running. Full steam ahead !! I guess he decided now would be a great time to play Hide & Seek.. in the middle of a department store. He headed towards the men's department and before long he was hidden amongst a sea of coats, suits, etc. I couldn't even see the top of his head around some of these displays. I'm running and running, calling out to him to stop and he just kept going. At this point, I'm running blindly because the floors were carpeted so I couldn't even hear what direction he was running in. Every so often there would be a break in the carpet and I'd hear his sandals against the linoleum floor so I could take off running in that direction after him.

Just as I catch a glimpse of Chris, it's too late.. he is at the edge of the store.. the part where it spills out into the open mall. I'm screaming his name at this point, getting looks from everyone and wondering where in the world is my husband to help me. Of course I'm wearing basically a flip flop and not sneakers so my attempt at running after him is greatly hindered.

Chris is now in the center of the mall running his little heart out and laughing. He's having the time of his life and I'm having a coronary. What if someone grabs him, what if he keeps running right out of the mall into the street? People see me chasing my son, see me yelling at him to stop and one of them could have easily tried to assist me, but I guess they didn't want to get involved. He runs down 1/2 the length of the mall into another department store where I finally catch up with him at the cosmetic counter. I'm so relieved and so mad all at once.

I'm sweating, my chest is heaving, and my little boy thinks this was the best game of Hide & Seek ever. I grabbed his hand and held it so tightly to let him know in no uncertain terms that he was not getting out of my reach and that there was certainly going to be a consequence for this action when we get home. As I walk back into JCPenney, I run into Steve who has no idea of what just transpired in the minutes since he saw us upstairs. All I can say is, "let's go... now!"

Thankfully, that happened over a year ago and we haven't had another episode of Mall Hide & Seek again.