Chloe is driving me crazy. She’s in that arts & crafts phase again – and this time, it’s lanyards. I spent most of my morning before heading off to work learning a “brick stitch.” I really have no patience for this stuff.

A brick stitch is different from the traditional “box stitch” in that it’s two box stitches side by side. And it’s a pain in the ass because you have to hold all the strings together. And they get twisted. And, really, it’s not like I didn’t have better things to do with my time this morning than to spend 20 minutes looping string.

But I love my daughter. And I didn’t want to let her down. Because if I did, I knew I wouldn’t hear the end of it. So I finally did it for her, and she was happy and gave me a hug before I left (which, of course, she would not have done had I failed her in any way).

It’s now 12 hours later, and Chloe has decided that she wants to start a new lanyard all by herself. And she’s hemming and hawing, because “it’s impossible and dumb!” And she’s having trouble, just like me. And she’s voicing her frustration, just like me – except that I curse, of course, and she just cries.

I know my Chloe, however. She is nothing if not determined, and I have every faith that before she goes to bed, or at least by morning, she will have figured out what she needs to do. And if she doesn’t, I’ll start crying, too.