Aunt Plays Hide and Seek With Toddler, But One Thing Gives Her Away

A woman was left in hysterics after noticing how her toddler niece forgot one important detail during a game of hide and seek together.

It may, quite literally, be fun and games, but play represents an important formative activity for young children. It teaches cooperation, boosts brain function, aids fitness and can enhance coordination.

As National Institutes of Health psychology Dr. Stephen Suomi puts it: “Play is behavior that looks as if it has no purpose.It looks like fun, but it actually prepares [kids] for a complex social world.”

Play can be a bonding experience too, particularly between young infants and older family members, as the example of Stephani, from Utah, and her two-and-a-half-year-old niece shows.

Stephani loves spending time with her niece. “She’s an absolute firecracker,” she told Newsweek. “She’s such a fun little girl to be around, I try to play as much as I can when I see her, she makes the inner child in me come out.” That inner child was left in hysterics when they most recently played hide and seek together.

On this particular occasion, Stephani’s niece thought she had sussed out a pretty good hiding spot. However, as the picture posted to TikTok by Stephani under the handle stressphani shows, that wasn’t quite the case.

“So in our living room, there’s a tiny nook where she often likes to hide and we usually pretend we can’t see her,” Stephani said. “Pretty quickly, she feels very undetectable but unfortunately the tiny spot she hides in is not baby belly friendly.”

As the picture showed, Stephani’s niece almost got away with it. Unfortunately for her, her tiny tummy could be seen poking out from around the corner.

It was a sight that had Stephani laughing. “I thought it was the cutest thing, just seeing a belly and some toes,” Stephani said. “She gets a kick out of us calling out her name pretending to look for her but all we can see is the belly poking out.”

Stephani decided to share it online after the picture got a similar response from the rest of the family. “My mom and I thought it was so silly how she was certain we could not see her,” she said. “I have posted videos of my niece before and everyone seems to like her, so I figured they’d enjoy it too.”

That assumption proved correct, with the picture racking up over 13 million views. The internet was suitably entertained. “This is so stinking cute! Nothing cuter than a little toddler belly!” one user commented.

“Stop I love my toddlers little beer belly so much I’m crying,” a second wrote with a third adding; “Haha buddah bellies happen because as their pelvis grows it provides stability for them to be upright, they’re so cute!”

A fourth, meanwhile, joked: “my toddler is also in the stage of beer belly. but he’s 444 months (37 years) and he says I’m his wife.” Play might be a great way for Stephani’s niece to learn and spend quality time with family, but the sessions provide a reminder of something else for her aunt.

“Just to appreciate the little things in life and those who surround us that make life fun,” she said.