I do not like to be snuck up on! I believe this stems from my childhood.

My Dad, brothers and truth be told, my Mom too, would hide behind anything, then jump out and scream!

The thing is, I kind of like to sneak up on other people.

I just don’t like to have it done to me! My favorite “victim” is Eric.

Sometimes I jump out on purpose from behind the closet door and scare him, which I think is so funny. Him, not so much.

When we lived in Florida, our screen door used to blow open and bang the house.

Once in a while it would happen in the middle of the night, and Eric would get up to go close and lock the door again.

Once I thought it would be funny (and it was) to hide behind the bedroom door and jump out when he walked back into our room.

He walked back in, and I jumped out and yelled (but quietly, since the kids were sleeping) “boo!”

He jumped so high in the air that he landed on the bed. I laughed so hard I almost needed oxygen!

If you were to ask him about it, he would probably say he was still mad four years later.

Another time we heard a raccoon outside, and Eric got up to check that the garbage can lid was secure.

Well, what happens when you wake up in the middle of the night?

You have to go potty! So in an attempt to stay as asleep as possible, I went into the bathroom, but kept the light off.

When Eric walked into the bathroom, I didn’t want to scare him, so I said “hey”, but it still scared him.

In response to my “hey” he kicked me and fell into the bathroom door!

Let’s just say it was a good thing I was still sitting on the potty, because after that  I would have had to go!

Now, I love to jump out at the kids and make them scream!

It cracks me up, because their scream is a mixture of fun and terror and they always want to do it again.

And then they want to do it to me, and even though their hiding skills are not very good, it’s still so fun to play with them. Their joy in “scaring” mommy is contagious and pure.  

I’m sure that someday they will scare me for real, but for now it’s just for fun.