I was a different kind of kid. I was painfully shy and I preferred the company of adults (senior citizens even more) over my peers. I spent most of my time birdwatching, drawing, making my own furniture and accessories for my dollhouse and eavesdropping on my siblings.

The other night, when I was putting my daughter to bed she shared with me her secret plans to spy on her sister. She had some good ideas, but she wasn’t fully throwing herself into it. I told her about my eavesdropping years and shared with her all of my tricks for getting a good stakeout, techniques for recording the information gathered and becoming invisible to the “person of interest”. I told her about the small suitcase that I packed with a flashlight, tape recorder, notepad and a snack (usually a banana because it could be eaten without making a lot of noise); I took it with me on every stakeout.

She was both shocked and impressed to hear of my adventures. She was particularly interested in hearing about my small telescopic mirror that I used to get a better view of my subject when I was in a tricky spot; it was something I found in a box in our basement – not sure where it came from. As we talked and her eyes got bigger with excitement, I realized that I was going to have to make her an eavesdropping kit of her own. I felt the need to help my kindred spirit, but at the same time I knew that the teacher would most likely become the target one day – oh well.

The snoop's starter kit – I was able to get a telescoping mirror at Home Depot for about $6.00, a one dollar note pad and a banana – all packaged in a Target travel bag made my daughter quite happy today.

Who knew that violating a loved one's privacy could be a bonding experience?

A photo from my eavesdropping days – apparently I was undercover at Oktoberfest in 1975.