Suspense

I just got done locking myself in my room to wrap some gifts. This raises my children's anticipation levels astronomically. Which is hilarious. They spent time at the door asking what each other's gifts were which I pretended to be willing to tell them if they sent the other person away, then I gave some variation of burnt tortilla/fresh tortilla/smelly tortilla/colorful tortilla (??) as an answer, which I found much more humorous than they did. Ah well.

Finally Imogen tired of the farse, turned to her sister and said, "C'mon, Genevieve, I have a new plan for attack!" I listened carefully as her voice dropped. I heard "Ok, *murmer murmer murmer* 'Chaaaaarge!' *murmer murmer* Got it?"

Genevieve apparently assented and preparations continued for half a minute in silence, then Genevieve yelled, "CHAAAAR-"

"No, Genevieve!" Imogen interupted. Then I started hearing this odd tapping. It got quieter as they moved across the house, then they bellowed, "CHAAAAARGE!!!" and I heard the thump of their footsteps and the tapping became louder and more frantic. They arrived at my locked bedroom door and then there was silence.

I waited for their next move for a moment then, unable to withstand the suspense, said, "Hello?" There was a pause and then they thumped and tapped away again. Apparently Imogen is one of those generals who works on a dramatic enterence but doesn't know what to do once that is accomplished. They eventually came back and I unlocked the door to see what was up. Imogen had Genevieve's old tap shoes and Genevieve had Imogen's old heals and they were banging them together in the grand tradition of Monty Python- which they have never seen- as they moved through their house.

I laughed when I saw them through the crack in the door, then Imogen gave me a cheesey grin, before she realized that this was the perfect opportunity. She tried to peek around me and I slammed the door shut. I heard her say, "We need a new plan."

I spent the next several minutes hiding gifts and cleaning up because it's time to make dinner. When I left my room again, they were still in the hallway. Genevieve was holding her trick or treating pumpkin bucket and Imogen was wearing a bike helmet and holding a rake. Without waiting to hear the new plan, I threatened to return all their gifts if they so much as touched my bedroom door.