I enjoy scaring the crap out of my kids. As such I’ve developed this thing I call “I’ve been waiting for you” where I’ll lurk in the shadows of a place I know one of my kids is about to go, then emerge when they enter uttering those words in a soft, creepy voice. Example: if my son is showering I know immediately after finishing he’s going to open a certain closet door to throw his dirty laundry into it. So a few times over the years I’ve laid in wait, and as he opens the door I take a step forward from the hanging clothes…”
I’ve been waiting for you”. Kind of afraid of doing it to him anymore because he’s 15 and might instinctively punch me in the face, but you get the idea.
The best one of my career happened during our family trip to Italy this summer. We were in a tiny restaurant in Lucca where the restrooms were down in a dimly lit, musky basement. I went down there with my 12 yo daughter, and on the way noted a small closet with a curtain as a door halfway between the restrooms and the stairs. Couldn’t pass it up. So she went into the ladies room, and I went into the men’s room, power-whizzed as fast as I could, then got into position. She came out 30 seconds later and as she passed I stepped out from behind the curtain…”
I’ve been waiting for you.” My goodness did she let out a scream. The rest of the family heard it upstairs from their table, and with nothing but the scream to go on my son said right away to my wife and other daughter “dang, he must’ve got her good”.