At the end of every day I play one final round

of hide and seek with all of the sippy cups.

Fetching them from beneath sofas, out of sand pails,

and off the back porch.

I tuck them all into the dishwasher

to be washed while their owners sleep.

At the children’s first stirrings in the morning,

the sippy cups are retrieved

one by one from their safe haven

to dutifully perform their bout of service before they disappear.

Really, it shouldn’t be a surprise that they hide

after being hurled from a high chair or surviving a tug-of-war.

By the end of the day, all the sippy cups cower,

hoping they won’t be discovered

until the little ones have gone away to dreamland.

Only then, will they allow themselves to be found

and tucked back into the dishwasher.