Carolyn's Critters

Dear Elsa,
You have become quite skilled at the Ball Track game!
Love, Carolyn

Dear Mum,
Thank you. I practice.
Love, Elsa

Dear Elsa,
You do! 
Love, Carolyn

Dear Mum,
Charlie and Winston don’t play it as well as I do. I’m the best Ball Track player in the family.
Love, Elsa

Dear Elsa,
Winston doesn’t do games in general. 
Love, Carolyn

Dear Mum,
He doesn’t even play with the Mousies.
Love, Elsa

Dear Elsa,
True. I think that’s because of his poor vision. I notice when he does show an interest in playing with one, it’s with White Mousie. Probably because he can see that one more easily, because it’s white against the dark floor. 
Love, Carolyn

Dear Mum,
But he loses interest really quickly.
Love, Elsa

Dear Elsa,
Focus is not Winston’s strong suit. Puffin used to insist on Game Time every evening – I was required to toss around the plush fish on a wand for him, over and over and over, and Puffin never got tired of it. I tried the wand with Winston and he mostly watched it for a bit, then would get bored and leave the room.
Love, Carolyn

Dear Mum,
Charlie likes the wand game. 
Love, Elsa

Dear Elsa,
He does! I always kept Puffin’s wand on the mantle, because that was handy for playing his game every evening, and it just became the official place for it. Everyone has cat toys on their mantle, right? Then last week Charlie found it there. He had a blast dragging it around the house with the stick clattering after him.
Love, Carolyn

Dear Mum,
Then he took the fish off the wand and now it’s Fish Mousie. 
Love, Elsa

Dear Elsa,
He does love his Fish Mousie.
Love, Carolyn

Dear Mum,
Why do we call it a Mousie if it’s a fish?
Love, Elsa

Dear Elsa,
It’s all about function. Fish describes its species but Mousie describes its function.
Love, Carolyn

Mum,
You have some strange ideas. Well, anyway, now Fish Mousie is one of Charlie’s favorites. 
Love, Elsa

Dear Elsa,
That brother of yours has serious Mousie skills.
Love, Carolyn

Dear Mum,
Yes!!!!! Airborne Mousies! Zoomie Mousies! And Stair Mousies! Whacking a Mousie up and down the stairs! He loves the stairs.
Love, Elsa

Dear Elsa,
And he does that over and over. That’s focus.
Love, Carolyn 

Dear Mum,
But he doesn’t play much with the Ball Track.
Love, Elsa

Dear Elsa,
You’re right. He maybe gives a ball a gentle tap now and then, just in passing. Nothing like the way you whack them. You send those balls flying around the track.
Love, Carolyn

Dear Mum,
I’m an advanced player.
Love, Elsa

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