As told through the infant eyes of Gwennie Ru.

This was going to be a good day because it was Mama’s day off work. I was looking forward to having her feed me, rock me, and basically devote herself to my every need all day. It was going to be great.

And it did start out kind of like that. I didn’t sleep well during the night but I was having a decent early morning nap. I could hear the washing machine going in the laundry room. I could smell the faint aroma of bread Mama had put in the oven. I was getting ready to announce that I was hungry when Daddy came in from feeding the animals. He said one of Mama’s favorite horses had not come up to get his grain.

When a horse doesn’t come up to get its regular feeding something is really wrong with the horse.

Well, Mama went tearing off to find the horse. I tried to protest but she couldn’t hear me. I did the only thing I know how to do when I’m hungry. I cried. Daddy went too. I don’t get it, but then, I’m just a baby.

I guess the horse was really sick, and since Mama is a horse doctor she was trying really hard to save the horse’s life. After a while, Daddy came back. He was supposed to be working at his job, on his computer. He hadn’t planned on the horse getting sick today. Yesterday, Daddy and I spent the day together while he was working on his computer and that hadn’t gone too well. I think he was worried that today would be a lot like yesterday.

Daddy turned the oven off and took care of the bread so it wouldn’t burn. I was still very hungry and felt that crying was still in order. I knew it would get to one of them sooner or later, and I would get fed, but no. In a short while, Daddy put me in the carrier and strapped me to his chest and we went out to check on Mama and the horse.

She had pulled the sick horse to the barn and was trying to get it in a stall and give it medicine, but before she could, she got real excited about something else.

For a minute or two, I forgot about being hungry and watched Mama run out to where her little milk goat was standing in the road. She had some of the goat’s favorite food and was trying to get it to come to her. That reminded me of how hungry I was and I thought about crying some more.

Mama chased that goat from one place to another till she was satisfied it wouldn’t get run over by a car. She gave the horse some medicine. And then she came over to me and Daddy. I thought they had been having fun, but evidently not. Mama said to Daddy “What more could possibly go wrong next?” Daddy just looked over at our car and said “maybe that flat tire?”

I don’t know about grown ups. Why would a flat tire make them laugh? But I do know that I like to hear them do that. I also know that it is a very good thing when Mama and I sit down in the rocking chair because I know I’m going to get fed. As usual, I got full and fell asleep, but I could still hear Mama calling Grandma and telling her about me, the bread, the horse, the goat and the flat tire and her “what more could go wrong?” day.