I think scaring deserves a post of its own, really. My best friend, Holly Larsen, lived across the street from us in Sandy, UT. If I stayed at her house past dark, I would call home to tell them I was coming so they could watch for me. Many times, Dad would hide behind our car parked in the driveway or stand quietly in the stand of trees near our front steps and then jump out to scare me. The trick was that he wouldn't do it EVERY time, so I never knew whether to expect him or not. So every time, the butterflies would rise up and I'd be on ultra-sense alert, trying to spy him out before he could scare me. I loved it though.
I remember when Jim, Joseph and I were very small and he would crouch at the end of the hall with a blanket over him. We would sneak down the hall and try to touch him or even start climbing on him and then he would throw off the blanket and roar and scare us into screams (and possibly a little bit of wet pants?) We loved that game so much!
Growing up with these kind of fun (and very funny) scaring games, I thought that everyone enjoyed being surprised by someone else hiding in a closet or around a corner. (See, I'm totally laughing just typing about this...) I know that several of us have discovered in our spouses that this is NOT a universally loved tradition and some people do NOT find it fun or funny to be surprised. Sometimes I just can't resist the temptation though and I have Dad to thank for that sudden inclination to jump out at someone and then laugh hysterically when I "get them"!
I've gotten Justin 4 or 5 times by hiding behind the door when he comes home late from class. I'm so jumpy that Justin often scares me without trying too hard.
ReplyDeletePoor Joseph--I truly hate getting scared. Even though he knows this he still can't help himself sometimes. I think that's why he was so eager to have kids though--they're way better targets than me :)
ReplyDeletehahaha! LOVE that comic, flori! remember when the two of us were in your bedroom, dancing in our slips after church and dad busted in with a giant roar that scared us like crazy? then we laughed so hard that we both peed our pants (full bladder style) on the bedroom floor? gross. but really funny, too! hahaha! it's making laugh right now! good times!!
ReplyDeleteIt's true. Carrie hates getting scared. I've only scared her 3 or 4 times in our whole marriage, but when we go to bed at night, she won't let me go down the hall to our bedroom first, OR turn out any lights until after she is in bed. If we walk somewhere dark she grabs both my hands so I can't sneak up on her.
ReplyDeleteMy kids, on the other hand LOVE getting scared. Yesterday, I told Bentley to come find me in 20 seconds and I would scare him. I hid behind the bathroom door and when it creaked open I jumped out and yelled. Sneaky Bean had sent Olivia in his stead and when I yelled, she froze and about had a baby heart attack. So sad. And yet so funny once I knew she was going to recover.
I had lunch with Mom and Dad yesterday and Dad told me a few stories about scaring mission companions that should be mentioned:
ReplyDelete1. Dad hid in one mission companion's closet and closed the door. He heard that companion walk in the room reading his scriptures aloud in spanish. After about a 15 minute wait, dad jumped out of the closet and scared the slacks off of the poor elder.
2. Dad went to great lengths to scare. At first, Neil would call out "can you come here for a minute?" and then scare the other missionaries as they came into the room. Once they caught on to that, he made a recording in one room, waited in the room behind them, and THEN jumped up to grab them.
3. One of his favorite scares was covering himself with a kangaroo pelt and grabbing people's legs from under the bed.
Not to slam you guys with comment spam, but the best scare I ever got out of Carrie was before we had been married even a year. We went and saw "What Lies Beneath," a scary movie with Harrison Ford. We were staying at her parent's house and as we came in the front door at close to midnight and headed up the dark steps I grabbed her ankle.
ReplyDeleteOh man. She screamed loud enough to wake up everyone else on the street and collapsed into a fetal ball on the steps sobbing. Whoops.
I got her brother Marsh pretty good up at the cabin one time too. We were joking around before bed and when he went to brush his teeth I sneaked into his bed and shimmied down the side between the bed and the wall. About 10 mins later, he climbed into bed and I said nothing, but I flopped my arm around him limp, zombie style. That boy screamed and shot out of that bed so fast. Carrie was watching through the keyhole, laughing so hard. Guess she likes it as long as it's not her!
Unfortunately, Luci doesn't like being scared either. It might stem from the time that we watched a scary movie like 'The ring' or 'The grudge' and I hid in the closet, with a long black wig on, then jumped out.....
ReplyDeleteI remember Dad always waiting for a suspenseful part during movies then making a loud noise to make us jump.
hee hee hee. I am laughing at all these scaring stories. Joe, I love that Bentley sent Olivia in first. But too bad she will now hate being scared for the rest of her life. You've got to ease them in gently...
ReplyDeletewow. I am laughing so hard right now, I might pee my pants. Does anyone know if dipping someone's hand in warm water while they sleep will make them pee? :)
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