My hiding place was about to be discovered.

It all started when my sister asked me to babysit my 2 ½ year old nephew. Now, don't get me wrong, I love kids. They're cute and little, and they say funny things, but some well, let's just say, they aren't all equally cute and funny. My nephew was the kind that made me swear I'd never have children as long as I lived.

Anyway, we started off playing this really fun game where I bounced him on my knees about ten thousand times. Of course I had to make it extra fun by acting as if he was going to fall or I was going to 'buck' him off. After each round he would say, "Again!"

Who taught children the word "again"? This is a word that should be stricken from the vocabulary of every parent until their child turned eighteen.

For my own preservation I knew I had to think of a way to distract him from the 'bouncy' game. "Hey, Jimmy, how about if we play a hiding game. I'll hide and you find me."

"Yes!" was the enthusiastic reply.

So there I was, a grown woman hiding in my closet, in my bedroom, trying not to breathe too loud. All too soon I heard little footsteps outside the door, he had found me.

Now let me say here that hiding from the child you are supposed to be babysitting is not something I recommend. I mean, who knows what they're doing to your house while you're hiding.

My closet door flew open. "Me find you, Aunt Roxy! Me hide now!" He squealed as he ran to find the perfect hiding place. Oh good, I thought, this is my favorite part of the game. I never look for him.

How could someone so small do so much damage, and completely wear you out within minutes of arriving at your home? My house looked like a bomb had gone off. All the toys I kept so neatly in the little toy box I painted myself, were strewn all over my family room. Every cupboard in my kitchen was opened, all my pots and pans were out and the pantry had been raided. How do they find the food you didn't even know you had?

In his short time at my home, he had consumed marshmallows, popcorn, canned peaches and a cookie that had fallen way back in there, and was covered in gray fuzz. He ate it before I could get to him, and he filled his little cup from the toilet twice, and drank it before I could stop him.

Now don't you think that one of the first things you would teach your child would be not to drink from the toilet? I would have had a talk with my sister about this, but of course I didn't want her to know that little Jimmy had been drinking from my toilet. Not something you want to admit.

So while little Jimmy hid, and I dearly hoped he was nowhere near the toilet, I tried to clean up a bit. I now laugh at my vain attempt to keep my house in order.

"Aunt Roxy! You find me!" I heard from somewhere in the house. Jimmy wanted me to look for him.

Another thing about children, they have no patience at all. They have no concept of time. Two minutes seems like three hours to them. I knew I had no choice but to act like I was looking for him.

"Where is Jimmy? Is he here?!" I looked behind the curtain. I heard giggling and "No!" I did this several times around the house, opening various doors and cupboards, making a big show of looking for him.

About this time I was really starting to wonder where he was. Even fake looking I should have found him by now, or he should have popped out like he always did and yell, "Me here!" Very proud of himself for hiding so well, but he hadn't done that. I started looking for him in earnest.

"Ok Jimmy, you can come out now. You win!" I called several times. "No! You find me!" he answered each time.

Where was that kid! I was really starting to panic. If I thought my sister would be unhappy about the potty water, I didn't want to think about what she would do if I lost her kid.

"Okay, calm down," I said out loud. He is in the house, I can hear him, so he has to be here, right?

Oh man, I hoped this wasn't like that old Twilight Zone episode where the little girl fell through a hole in her bedroom wall, and ended up in the third dimension!  I didn't know anyone who could help me with that. I was pretty sure the fire department had no experience with the third dimension. Just to be safe I went around the house, knocking on the walls, looking for a portal.

I went through the whole house again, calling his name, looking in every room, bathroom included, and nothing. My mouth was dry, my heart was beating in my ears.

Where are you, you little monster! I'm going to kill  that kid when I find him!  "Little Jimmy, where are you sweetheart? Come on out, you won the game. Auntie has another cookie for you, one with no gray fuzz," I called.

I was walking through the "nice living room", you know the one you never use, but keep really nice so all your neighbors, friends and family will be really impressed with your decorating skills, when I noticed the beautiful trunk, the one I painted myself, was bare on top. Where was my lovely fake plant I had so strategically place there, the one with the fake berries and the birds nest?  I walked over to check, when the lid flew open, and a little blond head popped out. "Me here! Cookie!"

When my heart began beating again, I grabbed up the little bugger and hugged him tight. After all, I had almost lost him to the third dimension and I'm pretty sure I would have missed him. I guess I was getting soft because I was starting to think he was kind of cute, and he did say some pretty funny stuff.

I gave him a cookie and he took every toy I had just put away, out of the toy box and opened all my cupboards again. He even went over and started slamming my oven door open and closed. That was one of his favorite things to do, that and pushing every button on every appliance and electronic devise I owned.

I just sat on the family room floor, making a tower out of blocks so he could come over and knock them down, and act like Godzilla.

Sometimes you just have to go with the flow. And then you are so happy when his mother finally shows up to take him home, and you don't have to see him again for at least a week.

In the mean time I think I will try and find that portal to the third dimension. I just might use it the next time I'm asked to babysit.