Hi, Jai here!

We’ve all been there . . . Playing Hide & Seek or some variation of the beloved game.

Growing up, and then again as an adult playing with my nieces, in our house we played the OG Hide & Seek where someone would count to ten while others hid and the first person to be found would be “It.”

But, we also played other variations that I highly recommend (once social distancing is no longer a thing and the current health pandemic is over of course).

There was Sardines — One person hides while others count, then split up to look for the person hiding. When someone finds the person hiding, they would hide with them, and so on, and so on, until everyone was hiding together except for the last person yet to find them. That person would become “It” and have to hide first in the next round.

Then, there was the outdoor neighborhood fun one, Ghost in the Graveyard — Until I was ten, I lived on a street with a bunch of next-door neighbor kids, so our game of Ghost in the Graveyard was able to span across about six different yards in a row, rather than staying in just one yard. One person was “It,” but the “It” person was also the hider, or the ghost in the graveyard. Everyone else would be on whatever was deemed “Base,” the safe place where you could not be tagged “It” (usually my family’s back deck), and counted a fun, chant type of count: “One o’clock, Two o’clock, Three o’clock, ROCK! Four o’clock, Five o’clock, Six o’clock, ROCK! Seven o’clock, Eight o’clock, Nine o’clock, ROCK! Ten o’clock, Eleven o’clock, Twelve o’clock, ROCK! Apples, Peaches, Pumpkin Pie! If you’re not ready, holler ‘AYE!'” If the person hiding shouted back “Aye,” then the counting chant would start all over again . . . But, no response meant GAME ON! Everyone would split up trying to find the “It” person who was hiding, but also not wanting to be the one to find them. The goal was to spot them from enough of a distance to not get tagged, and the “It” person’s goal was to move around to get close enough to tag someone. Whomever spotted the person hiding first would shout as loud as they could for everyone else playing to hear, “GHOST IN THE GRAVEYARD!!” Then everyone would try to run back to Base before the ghost tagged them. The first person to get tagged became the Ghost in the Graveyard.

Lastly, a personal favorite of mine and my friends was Manhunt – Basements were pretty typical growing up new Cleveland, so that was our main place of playing, but any dark room would do . . . and when I say dark, I mean pitch black. Two people, the Hunters, would sit at the top of the staircase so they couldn’t see anything while one of the lights were on, giving the hiders a chance to figure out where they wanted to be. Then once most were situated, one of the hiders would turn off the light and the slow count to ten would begin, giving the hiders one final chance to get in their spots. Once the counting was done, the two Hunters (yes, there was two because roaming around in the dark was scary) would then go looking for someone. This was the type of hiding game where you didn’t have to stay in one spot either; you could move around from location to location to avoid getting tagged. The round would continue until each and every person was found. However, if you were not one of the first two to be found and had a really good hiding spot, typically you would move to another area to get tagged so that you could keep your secret spot. The first two to be tagged became the next round’s Hunters.

Oh, good times!

Anyway, back to the OG Hide & Seek game . . .

*Fun hiding place idea if you are an adult playing with kids: Hide on top of the fridge. Kids don’t tend to look up when they are seeking.

I digress.

Did you hear about the 18 year old who was playing Hide & Seek with some younger relatives?

A family in Virginia were having some typical family fun when Amari (18) thought she had a stellar hiding spot. Girlfriend hid INSIDE the washing machine!

It wasn’t a front loader either. It was one of those top loaders that has that pole thing in the middle, so no idea who she even managed to contort and squeeze down inside.

Unfortunately, the same way Amari got in was not the way she was able to get back out.

The fire department had to come out to the home and full on REMOVE the top of the machine to get her out.

I still need to know, though: Was she ever found or did she give herself up?

https://www.instagram.com/p/B_MFO5alGbL/?utm_source=ig_embed