Treasure Hunt Debrief

A few people have asked how Emily's treasure hunt went. I've been behind in getting a post up about how it played out.

It went great. In fact, it was the highlight in what has been a difficult week. Emily has been testing limits, and going well beyond them, for the past week and a half and this week it really wore me down. I think it is three-year-old stuff and not a complete chemical imbalance but I'm not ready to make a verdict yet. We've been subjected to screaming, kicking, rudeness, crying, insolence and Hope has been hit and pinched several times. Then she does a 180 and is back to the girl I know. We never know right now what we're going to get and what might set her off but sadly her default right now is to be rude to us and let me tell you, I need a vacation.

So, I devised the treasure hunt to give her and me a break from the conflict and as something special for her and me to do together while Hope slept. It worked so well. We both had a great time.

I drew a map that showed different routes through the main floor of our house. At the end of each colour-coded dotted line there was an X with a number. That marked part of the treasure. There were seven treasures in all.


I started by explaining the map to Emily and showing her how to follow each line and how to figure out where the treasure would be. She needed help for a while following each line, especially when they crossed another line but by the last few treasures, she was able to follow the lines on her own without getting mixed up by other routes. She was also impeded by my sorry excuse for a map. I started out well and then the scale got all wrong and I ended up using only 2/3 of the paper and having to squish everything in. There's a reason I didn't go into cartography. That reason and because it sounds totally boring.

She really is such a smart girl and can follow instructions and learn so quickly. I was really proud of her. It was a great adventure that we both needed.

Here is a little photo diary of the hunt: