Eyes Open, Eyes Closed!

There is a little game that I played with a little girl at bedtime. Very few children ever want to go to bed and one tries all sorts of strategies to lull them into sleep. Bedtime stories are one of these. I would read the child a bedtime story but find that her eyes remained fixed upon the book or upon me as I read. I would cry: 'Eyes closed!' and she would respond, 'Eyes OPEN!' It became a little game for the toddler, and she would laugh delightedly each time she cried out, 'Eyes OPEN!'

I thought of that as the newborn kittens began to open their eyes for the first time. In the space of two days, all four of them opened their eyes to take their first view, however blurred, of their new world.

Yes, capturing a photograph of this wonderful new landmark in their lives proved far more difficult than I expected. I am the one who would have to cry, 'Eyes OPEN!'
Either they close their eyes or their faces are hidden from me each time I try to take a photograph...

Part of the problem is that I must shoot downwards into their bed, which is not very promising where a view of their bright little eyes is concerned. Beauty does not help matters either. If I try to remove a kitten for a moment to place him/her in a location where I have a better angle for a photograph, Beauty becomes very distressed. The kittens cry, the Mother cries and I allow myself to be defeated very easily. After all, it's only a photograph...

I did manage to take one 'candid' photograph of a kitten finally with his eyes open. My first successful photograph, taken by holding the kitten's head firmly in the palm of my own hand to keep his head aloft, looked too grim for words, as it appeared almost as though I were throttling the poor little creature. In reality, I held him very gently, but the photograph of him in his own 'bed' will be far less disturbing, both to Beauty and to any potential viewers.