Five days ago, I sealed my fate. I got a cat. If you've spent any time with me over the past year, you're probably already on the phone with the straight jacket people, reserving my padded room at Warm Springs. In the words of my daughter: "We're not cat people, we're dog people". In fact, It's been a running joke with my friends since this blog in January.
Here's how I lost my mind, temporarily:
Five days ago I was minding my own business. The kids were due back to my house in a few hours and I was taking a much needed day off from the grind of life. My eldest (who, by-the-way, turned 14 today) was pheasant hunting with a friend. Since I'm not the "hunting parent", nor was I the day's custodial parent, you can imagine my surprise and heart-in-throat response to his phone number calling mine that morning. "Mom", his desperate voice asked... "I found a kitten in a ditch, by a tree, she's tiny and there's no momma cat here, can I bring her home, she's scared and her eyes are so blue and she's so little mom, can I keep her, I'll take care of her, please mom..." His sentences ran together, his desperate words pouring out, my son barely taking a breath between.
Instantly I thought "no", for a million reasons. However, by the time he finished with his plea, I had, in my mind's eye, the vision of two young men, toting shotguns, bent over a helpless teeny kitten, concern and excitement written all over their faces. Somehow, I lost all sense of reason and I said yes.
It occurred to me later in the day that he was the kid of mine that had been slightly allergic to cats as a little boy. I called him back to ask if she was making his eyes water. I was having reservations and was about to back-track in my decision... He said yes, his eyes were a little watery. So I asked if he was puffy and itchy too. He answered, "Oh, wait no! I'm not allergic to her, my eyes are watering a little because she is so helpless and her eyes are so blue..."
This boy makes my heart happy.
When they got home with her, I had the usual mom-to-child Responsibility Lecture prepared and seamlessly presented. My son, who has been 45 years old since birth and, more often than not, is more responsible then both of his parents combined, readily agreed to the terms. After some discussion, he determined that she would be our Daisy.
Over the last five days things have not gone quite like I had planned.
Daisy, who would easily fit inside a Dr. Pepper can, has assigned herself to me. She drunkenly jumps after me in a tottering kitten sideways run as I walk from room to room. She cries by the shower until I get out and purrs when I lean down and say her name. She waits, expectantly, on the floor by my bed watching for me to wake up and forces her way beneath blankets next to me on the couch each evening. She is hopelessly beautiful.
The eldest of my children has, without fail, exceeded the expectations of the terms and conditions set before him, and the other two have declared themselves "cat people".
I give up. I have a cat. Sorry son, you'll have to get your own.
There's nothing cliche here at all people, keep moving...
She's pretty sure I can't see her behind the Q-tips, she's right.
The mighty hunter returns with a Dollop of Daisy
(The commercial jingle is getting a little over-sung here, you might imagine)
I have to say, I'm glad Nathan finally found his "perfect kitty."
ReplyDeleteI recall a couple of months before you moved to Alaska, when you took in a foster cat and her kittens for a couple of weeks. Nathan fell in love with the whitish, Siamese looking kitten, Oscar, and declared him the perfect kitty. You told Nathan he could keep him. Oscar died a few days later, and you told your heart-broken son that Oscar had been the perfect kitty, but since he died, you couldn't settle for any other kitty.
Daisy is a beautiful kitten, but then again, I've always been a sucker for Siamese kitties. :)
By the way, happy belated birthday Nathan!