Forest

Every night after dinner, when it's dark outside, if we close the doors to the dining room and living room and turn out all the lights, we are in a Forest.

Usually we don't go in till the kids are in their jammies and ready for bed. Then, with anticipation, we run down the hall, turning off lights and closing doors as we go, making sure everyone gets inside the Forest before we close the doors.

"Yay, we're in the Forest now!!" Claire exclaims, jumping up and down. Cole careens across the forest floor, and you can tell even in the dark that he's grinning. "I'm Snow White!" Lilah says. "And I'm the mommy cat, and Cole is the daddy cat, and mommy, you're the big sister cat, and Claire is the baby cat."

"Yes!" says Claire. "And let's play that it's nighttime now and we go to bed and then Julie won't wake up!"

We "meow" and crawl our way to the big bed in the playroom, Cole also playing a convincing cat. Everyone flops on the bed in slumber, but no sooner do we shut our eyes then someone announces, "It's morning time!"

Claire and Cole are the most energetic wakers. "Julie, Julie! Morning time! Julie, Julie!" They pat my back, bounce on the bed, go nose-to-nose with me. I snore on, and on. Then, with a cry, I spring up, awake, and everyone laughs and we collapse in a cat-pile on the bed. Mommy makes porridge for our breakfast, and we scarf down our portions. "Nighttime again!" Claire announces, and we all go back to sleep.

Or maybe I sit on the rug in the living room and the kids shoot down the slide in the dining room and come racing by me to see if I can catch them. I grab one giggling child after another and give each one a tickle or a squeeze; it's not hard to catch someone who is desperate to be caught.

Then it's time to go to our real beds, and Forest is over for another day, but when evening falls again, if we turn the lights off and close the doors, we will find the Forest waiting for us.