Don’t worry daughter, one day you’ll be as good at finding things as your mother is at hiding them… cgayling.com/malmaxa/2012/1…
— C.G.Ayling (@CGAyling) October 5, 2012
My youngest daughter was in a foul mood this morning, seems our wicked house had conspired to hide her shoes – all searches had failed, with no clues on the whereabouts of the missing footwear. Since I’ve been the victim of similar malign intent on far too many occasions, I attempted to console her – I failed, Julia’s determination to remain angry prevailed…
Though my wife expressed deplorable disinterest in our beloved daughter’s plight, in passing she casually inquired if Julia had showered the previous evening. “Yes”, Julia grouched.
Two minutes later an evidently satisfied mother returned bearing the errant red shoes. Suspicious at the speed with which my wife had solved the unsolvable, I turned to Julia and said “Don’t worry daughter, one day you’ll be as good at finding things as your mother is at hiding them…” Julia’s face cracked, along with her bad mood as she responded “Good one, dad.”
My wife has an almost uncanny ability at finding the things our house goes to such lengths to hide. Indeed, a little too good… I’m not ashamed to admit I’ve often accused her of being adept at hiding things in plain sight.
With Julia’s crisis averted, my wife seized opportunity to explain her system of echo-location, “Finding things is simple really, just visualize the object you’re looking for – its size, shape and color, then restrict your search to only that. Another thing that helps, is backtracking where you last remember having the item.”
I nodded sage agreement, as though I too used these very tactics. Secretly I thought, “Explain magic any way you will, witch! I’m on to you – you’re in cahoots with the house…”
