Every single night before Nolan goes to bed, he and I have the exact same ritual. I am instructed to knock on his closed door. He then quickly hides under the covers, turns his flashlight on, and then yells “You can come in now.” I then open the door and proceed to his bed puzzled as to where Nolan may be. I ask repeatedly “Nolan where are you? I want to tell you good night. Oh Nolan where could you be?” He continues to lay there motionless. I then “decide” to just lay down (on top of him) because I just do not know where he may be (and I am really tired I say)! He then springs up and says “Here I am!” I then act surprised and shocked that he was under the covers the whole time!
I have lost count of how many months we have been doing this. It struck me tonight that Nolan never gets tired of this ritual. He seems to possess the same excitement tonight as he did when we first started this special hide and seek game months ago. He also genuinely believes I cannot find him even though he is under the covers every.single.night.
When does this innocence dissipate? Oh please I hope not anytime soon. I will be heartbroken when he says he does not want to play this game with me anymore. There is something so special and magical about his purity. Why does that have to end?