1. Holding very still inside a closet that is wide open.
2. Inside her pediatrician’s office, where she has received nearly two dozen childhood inoculations but is still ineligible for a COVID vaccine.
3. Lying facedown in the middle of the living-room rug, whispering to herself, “Ready not, here we come!” and holding very still.
4. Lying on the living-room rug and flipping through picture books, clueless about what a library is, because she has never been inside one.
5. In an airplane seat on a flight to visit her grandparents, too small to keep a mask on her own face but breathing in the respiratory droplets of hundreds of adults who aren’t wearing masks, thanks to the CDC and/or some judge in Florida.
6. At home, in a kiddie chair that she dragged next to another chair and called a “party,” because she has no idea what a party is.
7. Under the dining table and yelling, “Mommy! Under table!”
8. Eating a cupcake at the dining table to celebrate her second birthday, a month after the two-year anniversary of the COVID vaccine trials, unaware that in the time it’s taken her to learn to walk, feed herself, have a conversation, and change her own diaper, no one has come out with a vaccine for a toddler.
9. On a bed (still at home) with her head under a blanket and the rest of her body visible, but holding very still.
Hiding places: 1, 3, 7, 9
Places where she is invisible: All of the above