crying baby, class and cat's cradle

My siblings went off to the farm with mom today. They are going to a program at the same farm I used have a homeschooling program at when I was younger.

The program has changed a lot. It's more up tight(like most things now of days) and less fun. I guess there must have been incidences in the past, but they have more rules now, and they've gotten rid of some of the best things.
There used to be a swing in the hay loft, and a high ledge to jump off of, but the swing has disappeared and the ledge is off limits.
Where's the fun in that? So what if a few kids twisted and ankle or broke an arm? Why take these things away from everyone else?
I do understand safety is important. But kids can get hurt anywhere, anytime.
It is nice that the world wants to protect them.
But if you expect to always be protected, you don't know what to do when the time comes when something bad actually happens.

But I guess it's provention or law suites these days.


The Baby was sick last night, so mom left him with me this morning. When he woke up he was not a happy camper.
The poor guy had a fever and desperately needed a diaper change.
He didn't want his medicine, but once his was sufficiently distracted I was able to coax enough of the sticky pink stuff into him to help.

My math course's 'live meeting' started while my mom was still out, so I had to work out how to keep the baby happy and be able to hear my lesson over the sound of the smiling singers on the TV.
It sort of worked. But my mom came back not too long after so I was able to go listen to the rest of the meeting in (relative) peace.

It was one of the longest hours of my life. She was just answering questions that didn't apply to me at all. I guess people are still having problems with the software. But I'm not one of that population, so this meeting was of no use to me.

This evening I was able to have a rare moment of special time with the Princess.
We sat down together in the window seat that looks out on our yard, which was dulled by the rain of the day.
She had a piece of tied string wrapped around her fingers, and we twisted and pulled our way though her first introduction to Cat's Cradle.
On our trip to the cottage this summer, she became quite the string trick master. She practiced and practiced until she was able to manipulate the string into a variety of shapes and patterns.
But this was the first time we tried Cat's Cradle together, she really enjoyed it, so did I.

I don't get enough time with just her. But when I do, it can be so special. It's times like these that I never want to forget, of be forgotten by her.