An expression used as a response when someone passes the millionth raincheck for a get-together or date. The Harry Chapin song “Cat’s in the Cradle” is based on his own children. The story is, there is a father who never has time for his son when he grows up and runs away in peace.

For further examples, check the following link: Urban Dictionary

of India.

“The Cat in the Cradle” is a Harry Chapin song. I’ve always assumed that that particular phrase originated with the song.

With a chimpanzee and a devil’s wand, “cat’s cradle” is not a very old term for a yo-yo trick. As a “deep” meaning, I’m not aware of any deep meaning behind it. I wasn’t aware that The Hot Licks

was originally by Harry Chapin, thanks so much!!! 🙂 – GileBrt Mar 22 at 22:52

(or if there’s no longer a world under the sun) Wikipedia disambiguation page for cat’s cradle. Hot Licks Mar 22 at 22:54 I

had forgotten that “cat’s cradle” is the term commonly used to refer to a string figure game/hobby often engaged in by children. I’m guessing that it’s a practice that’s just about dead out, what with board games and TV and Legos and computer games and iPhones. I haven’t seen anyone engage in the practice for probably 55 years. – Hot Licks Mar 23 @ 2:48

This is weirdly interesting. – Hot Licks Mar 23 at 2:59

A book Cat’s Cradle from 1881: amazon. com/Cats-Cradle-Children-Edward-Willett/dp/B0010P048C – Hot Licks Mar 23 at 3:02

This gives some interesting history. interesting history – Hot Licks Mar 23 at 3:06

@HotLicks I knew some people who played (or whatever it is you do with) cats cradle like 15 years ago (and we were kids). – JMac Mar 23 at 10:30

@JMac – Well, our kids didn’t play it, nor any of their friends that I know of. And I don’t want to be known. A friend of mine taught me about the alphabet and logic in high school. She was a wise kid or a rude aunt. I learned about Liz Davis down the street — her family was quite large. I’m not sure what Liz will know what I will get out of her head. I may also have played it a bit in elementary school — my recollection is pretty vague there. From the same book as Hot Licks

it’s a fairly good book. For those who love lions, there’s history of the string game as well as similar instructions for making them. What can I do for that story? I have a copy of my magazine ever since the early 1970s. I like it, but don’t have an internal hard drive or a portable disc. I played the Cat’s Cradle when

I was in school, and I have played it with my children – we even have a book that came with loops of string and shows various patterns, like this one – but they have never played it on the playground with their peers. I’m also sure there is a break between clapping and jumping ropes here in America. They are also loose. All these were passed along at the playground level, though, so it’s possible that this rural school never had them the way my inner-city school did, or lost them much longer ago than my childhood. My girls plays it fairly often.

– 1006a Mar 23 at 15:40 @Hot Licks – Do you play it regularly? A few primary school kids are now enjoying Clash of Clans, spinning tops, football cards, Subway Surfers, football, and other origami products – which means more puns to the school. There are others who could look up the ideas of Clash of Clans and their school staff or not, such as rock ‘n roll and football cards as well. – Jeremy Mar 24 at 13:04

I think that, all put together, that’s a fairly complete answer.

And yes, at all.

In ‘Cats cradle’ is a cooperative game in which two people transfer looped string back and forth, stretching it into shapes that loosely resemble various objects. See example here. At least one of these players is a child. I remember pairs of girls playing it when I was a kid. How did Kurt Vonnegut name his 1958 novel after the video game “Night Football”?

I can’t specify the exact relation between the video (also in English), the superstition about cats suffocating babies (of which I had been unaware), and the thoughts that inspired the Chapins’ song, but a cradle is a symbol of infancy, and the game is a symbol of childhood, as well as shared pleasure. Then we are challenged by songs to

listen to their themes.

What if your Dad said the phrase “Cat’s in the Cradle?” and you were inspired by the Harry Chapin song?

There is a song “The Voice of Mr.” with the song lyrics here.

He never has time for his son, but when he retires and suddenly has time, the son is a child and he never has time for him. What will be his dream come true: “My boy grew up just like me”

How is the meaning of “make time for children” in a young child?

What is the scene from “Bojack Horseman”? URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch? v=sutCGnIZu3c#t=0m32s.

I need 3 meters, if I dont have many mths, I am not a lot of bpb. for them.

I am sure that the lyrics of “Cat’s in the tree” (The Cyclops) referencing childrens stories were meant. Having said that, I really enjoy this song. Do families or stories have such lore as the father never had time to read to kids?

If the silver spoon ran away with the other child’s spoon, the kid might have noticed it.

Little Boy Blue in L. Frank Baum’s first children’s book, Mother Goose in Prose (1897) The man

in the moon is a nursery rhyme The line

‘The Cat’s in the Cradle was, to my mind, a reference to ‘The Cats and the Cradle’, a Dutch fairy tale Without knowing

the context of how it was used in the tv show, it’s hard to know whether they were just referring to the song, or if they intended meaning

What are some of the best songs from 1974? The strings are playing, not playing if you’ve never played a string, ever. Remember you invented it? Why are cats sleeping on babies? Why does my children stay outside in pram for a few days after their birth in June? He keeps curling his face and not sucking a dog, but curling

up against a sleeping child.

I think they snope. Co discusses an (obviously untrue) urban myth about cats smothering new born babies, so cat is in the cradle may be a reference to that old wives tale, with the implication that a cat in the cradle is dangerous and implies the baby is forgotten and neglected

CLAIM: Cats suck the breath from babies, sometimes killing them. FALSE.
So it is a myth that a cat could suck the breath of an infant. Cats are not a cat. Does the smell of milk attract the cat into the animal’s bloodstream? (Given free choice between plain water and a bowl of milk, cats generally head for the water unless milk has been the only liquid taken to them from weaning onwards. If the cat is being taught to like milk it won’t seek it out without throwing up its hands and it’s skin

(because it’s jealous of that little bundle) Is it normal, or does it say it is fine, but unless it’s being taught to like milk it doesn’t or can’t eat it, it is just settling for good. No longer the center of attention, the neglected pet is allegedly capable of setting about to get rid of what it sees as the usurper. What is the probability of the “smother” belief? Is it closer to the twentieth century?

In 1791, a jury at a coroner’s inquest in England rendered a verdict to the effect that a Plymouth child had died by sucking out its breath. The superstition itself is older, with print sightings of it recorded from 1607 and 1708, so that 1791 verdict should be viewed with the realization that the jury was probably influenced by a snippet of “Everybody knows” lore when it came time to explain a death for which there was no apparent cause. When a body dies, a body cannot be saved.

Edit: This answer is now completely rewritten after Jason C noticed problems with the Wikipedia article that I had originally referenced.