Treasure Hunt

Mitchell is such a mystery to me.  One day, he is quiet and moody, answering my probing questions with one word answers and funny "looks."  The next day, he is skipping in excitement and bursting to tell me stories of what happened at school and his plans for building a spaceship "that really flies!"  One day, a hug annoys him and a kiss?  yuk!  No way!  The next day, he just can't get enough ticking and wrestling and hugging.  One day, he prefers to find his own entertainment and doesn't seem to notice me.  Other days, he just can't seem to let me walk from one room to the next without following me.

He is constantly surprising me, and yesterday was a classic example.  It was classic "Mitchell."

I had to make a phone call.  I wanted privacy while I did so.  I explained to Mitchell that he was to stay where he was, playing quietly and alone for just a few minutes.  He nodded in agreement.

When I finished my phone about 10 minutes later, he was standing right inside the door, hopping in place, big grin on his face.  He definitely had been up to something and was literally hopping up and down waiting for me to discover it.  I smiled and asked him what was up and he said, "Mom?  Do you notice any shopping bags hidden around the house?"

I looked around and yes, indeed, I did notice a few plastic shopping bags poking out of drawers and stashed under chairs.  "This is a treasure hunt and I hid special treasures in the shopping bags and you get to find them!  C'mon!"

Each time I found a new bag, I opened it up and inside was something on which he had "written" a message, which he would read out loud to me:

The bag under the kitchen table said "You are invited to a birthday party!"

The bag behind the couch said "I love you, Mom."

The bag in the bathroom said "It's pizza day!"

Behind the chair in his treasure room was a note saying "You're the best mom ever!"

Under Dad's desk in his office, the note said "I'll give you flowers in just a second!"

One under the couch read "I love your guts!"

On the stairs, the note said "You're the prettiest mom in the world!"

In my coat closet, tied around the mop, was a bag with a note saying "I'll meet you at the movie theater!"

Sticking out of my rain boot - "Meet me later.  I'll be at the flower store.  Get whatever you want!"

In a potted plant, he hid a note saying "Let's go to the crystal store.  There's jewelry there!"

And it all was intended to lead me in a treasure hunt to the grand prize (which was the first thing I noticed but was instructed that I did NOT see that yet and had to wait to see it until the end) which was hidden under a kitchen towel on the floor behind the table.  He bounced over to the spot, whipped the towel off, revealing an apple, a glass of water, and a pile of cereal on a paper towel.  "Now we get to have a special snack together!  Don't you just love this?"

As we sat on the floor, eating and drinking our special little snack together, just the two of us, I asked him what made him think to do such an adventurous and special thing for and with me.

"Oh, you know... I just thought you were special and you'd like it of course!"

I picked him up and squeezed him.  I must have squeezed a bit too hard and too long though because, true Mitchell style, he groaned, "Ok... That's enough hugging..."  and he ran off to find some other adventure.