Hey, Mom! Wake up! I really need a Kleenex!

The daily routine goes something like this:

Simone and Baby B go out somewhere and return around 11 am. They let Eliot the dog out of the laundry room and Baby B climbs onto the single seater that rests against the window in the family room. Simone puts the leash on the dog and walks him back and forth until he does his business and waves at Baby B.

It doesn't take long for the dog to do his thing and Simone comes in to prepare lunch.

Simone does quite well with this routine. She manages to stay awake through most of it, in fact.

The trouble starts when she sits down to give Baby B his lunch. She places her laptop on her lap. It feels warm and cozy, like a heated blanket. Baby B cuddles in to Simone's side and opens his mouth with astounding regularity for his next mouthful of food.

Simone summons up a series of online games for toddlers from the internet gods and voila! Baby B gets entertained and fed in one sitting.

Simone usually remains somewhat conscious during the feeding procedure but, like all good things, feeding is a limited time option. Sooner or later, Baby will run out of room in his stomach or the plate will run out of food. At that point, several things conspire against Simone: the warmth of the laptop, the warmth of Baby B, the comfort level of the couch and, the most lethal of all, sheer boredom. Yep. Baby B wants to play the same games each and every day on the computer.

One minute Simone is wide awake and guiding Kwala over stepping stones to the other side of the river, occasionally diving into the river for fun, the next minute, Baby B is poking Simone's ear or her nose to drag her back to consciousness. It's a sad state of affairs but Simone has developed a system for games. She cleverly leaves the mouse pointed at the play button and allows songs, games and what-not's to play themselves out. When Baby B says "Encore!" to signal that he wants to play again, Simone's finger clicks the mouse button. She doesn't even have to squeeze open an eyelid!

Yep. Parenting at its best.