Issue link: http://hvparent.uberflip.com/i/153549
"Linda," she called to my mother, "Do you have any string?" "It's in the bottom drawer of the desk," my mother said while waving in the direction of the desk in the kitchen. My 12 year old daughter, Delaney, got up to get the ball of twine and a pair of scissors for Granny. "I'm going to show you how to play Cat's Cradle," Granny told my girls. This simple game from Granny's childhood was lost with the advent of TV and video games. I remember my grandmother teaching me and my sister how to play when we were younger. I watched from the kitchen as Granny wrapped the string around her arthritic hands to set up the starting point of the game. I could hear her give instructions as I set the table in the dining room. "Michaela," she explained to my 15 year old, "See these two X's on the sides? You pinch them with your thumb and middle finger; bring them out and under and through until you have the string on your hands." The girls took turns trying to manipulate the string without knotting it. The three of them laughed as they dropped the string again and again. After a few failed attempts, my grandmother called me in for back up. "Pam, can you show these girls how to do this?" I stopped filling the glasses with ice and walked back to the family room. My grandmother had me set up the first game so she could show the girls how to pinch the X's and bring them through. When she took the string on her hands, I showed the girls the next move. We continued for a few rounds until the girls felt confident enough to try it. They practiced under Granny's guidance until they were called to dinner. When we finished eating, the At 92 years old Virginia Hughes (shown above) loves developing a relationship with her great granddaughers. Grandma introduced Delaney(L) and Michaela (R) to Cat's Cradle, a game that only requires some string and finger dexterity. The game goes back at least to the 1800s. girls went back to the family room while the rest of us lingered at the table. I expected them to turn on the TV or text their friends, forgetting about the string that lay on the table. Instead, we watched as the next generation picked up the strings that has held us together for so long and continued the game. Pam Molnar is a freelance journalist and mother of three. She hopes that her daughters will remember this moment when they pass the strings down to the next generation. HVParent.com Hudson Valley Parent 31