We continue to try and enjoy the Small Pleasures of life. First, this from Earl Green:

A little something to add to the list of small pleasures: on Sunday I was at my in-laws' farm, just walking around since they had neglected to tell me that they'd all be out of town and therefore didn't need my help to feed or clean up after any of the horses. I saw a couple of mares bedded down in a big bale of hay, using it as shelter from the cold wind, so I got into that pen with them, walking up slowly and sat between them. Normally this just doesn't happen because horses tend to stand up if a human approaches them, but fortunately these two were feeling particularly lethargic. Best of all, they edged closer to me once I was comfortably seated, as if they felt some kind of obligation to keep me warm. All at once, I could understand the stories about how the Bedouins wouldn't tie their horses up outside, but let them sleep in their tents with them. That made my whole day.

And this from slgorman:

One of the students who graduated this last August stopped by to visit on Monday and tell me he passed his licensure exam. I nearly cried! Days like that, I love my job.

Pattie has a followup to our Flying by the (Sassy) Seat of My Pants essay:

Well, working in the baby industry must be a marketer's dream - your fallback tactic is always guilt. You say something will make a baby safer (whether it will or not) then you glower over the clueless expectant parents and say "You would spend a little extra to make sure your baby was safe, wouldn't you?"

The other tactic is to market a product that claims to make the baby sleep longer and more soundly. By the second month, most parents would sell their own kidney for such a product.

BTW, the baby-related product that I'm looking for does not seem to be available in the Philly area. If someone sees a maternity T-shirt that reads "It's None of Your Business How Much Weight I've Gained So For the Love of God, Stop Asking", please pick it up for me - I take a medium. Thanks.