My children take a multi-vitamin every morning. For those of you who have not delved into the children's vitamin market recently, there is a plethora of options out there. Our favorites seem to be the gummy ones which come in a variety of characters and shapes -- Cars, Avengers, Frozen, Disney princesses, etc. Yes, the list goes on. As cute as all these gummies are, sometimes it is a bit of a challenge to distinguish what exactly that particular gummy is supposed to be. I mean, if I didn't know a particular gummy had come out of the Frozen bottle it could just as easily be Cinderella as Elsa or Anna or, do you suppose that's Olaf?
I have the same problem with toys. We have a whole drawer in the living room with puzzles. Grant you, these are the fairly simple Melissa and Doug variety. (Great puzzles, by the way. I highly recommend them.) Still, if you weren't aware of the fact that we have four different farm puzzles, it could be rather frustrating trying to figure out why the barking dog is not fitting in to the fuzzy puzzle spot. When you find that random puzzle piece laying around the house, it really helps the clean up process when you know from whence it came.
Isn't this so true of life?
Seeing as how it's Christmas Day, it is so much easier to have a little compassion, a little understanding for one's fellow man. It's a little bit easier to look beyond the things which irritate us and just love people for where they are. Unfortunately, it's not always easy to do this on a day-to-day basis. Most of the time it's much simpler to look at the cover and judge what we're seeing. Or perhaps take one single moment in an individual lifetime and define the rest of our relationship with an individual by that moment.
Probably sounds a little philosophical for an individual who writes most of her posts about dogs piddling on the carpet. The same individual who started out this post writing about gummy vitamins. Apparently even I become a little more introspective as the end of the year draws to a close. I wonder how I treat the people surrounding me. Especially those who I hold near and dear.
My husband mentioned the other day that our daughter is the Hex Girls of fashion. (A nickel is coming your way if you can put that one in context without googling it!) I can say without bias, she truly is. She's adorable. She can also be my most challenging child. I often ask myself if the cute exterior covers for the bad behavior or if I judge every moment based on some less than stellar moments in her life. I'm not trying to judge my darling daughter, but just to illustrate the point. How often do we see the melt down in the supermarket (I'm talking about mine, not hers) and think "what is wrong with that parent?". How often are we able to put it into context with the rest of their day? Or to think about what other stressors might be in their life? Or just try to put ourselves in someone else's shoes for a brief moment and think that perhaps we're not the only ones who have less than perfect happening in our lives.
Despite my whining to friends and family alike, I can often be that horrible person who is judging other people's way of dealing with life. Looking at things from my own limited little world versus the context of their existence. Being a person is hard work. Being a parent just throws more people in the mix. Again, to quote my husband ("the poet laureate of Dogwood Lane") "our lives are like a three-ringed circus with untrained animals". Perhaps, we're not the only ones.
Merry Christmas, folks.
Friday, December 25, 2015
Sunday, September 13, 2015
Caught Between a Cat and a Macbook
Life takes me by surprise. This post has been on my mind for a while now. Tonight, I finally open up my blog to write and discover almost a year has gone by since my last post. How did that happen? I seem to ask myself that question a lot. Somewhere in between trying to accommodate a lot of everyones, I end up finding myself in the most, well, shall we say awkward?, positions.
Here's a wonderful example of said awkward positions. My husband and I would climb into bed every night. (For those of you with dirty minds, this is not going where you think it is!) We don't have a television in our room, but my husband likes to curl up with his laptop and watch something before falling asleep. (For those of you who are thinking that this is the same end result as having a television, yes, I agree. However, this is not the point to this discussion, so we'll table that until another day. Now, where was I?) Inevitably, he falls asleep with the earbuds in his ears and the laptop laying next to me. Which means that he's taken over about 2/3 of the real estate in our bed. Then comes the cat. The cat likes to sleep curled up next to me, so there I am sandwiched between cat and Macbook. Don't want to wake my husband on the right side and don't want to disturb the cat on the left side. Instead, I awkwardly lay there for hours attempting to sleep without making anyone else uncomfortable. See the dilemma here?
There is no doubt in my mind that I have mentioned our cat in previous posts. Jingizu was a hand-me-down cat with a hand-me-down personality. While intensely loyal and friendly with our family, she was not fond of outsiders. Therefore, most people were not particularly fond of our cat. Despite her lack of popularity, we rather liked her unique traits and flair for life. I can say with great confidence that I have never had a cat like her nor am I ever likely to again.
It came as quite a shock one day when I received a phone call from my husband saying he had just found our cat and she was deceased. Awkward sleeping arrangements, short temper and uncomfortable social gatherings aside, she was my cat and I was going to miss her. The sad truth is that I allow myself to be caught in these awkward situations because in the moment it just doesn't seem that bad being uncomfortable if it means I get to curl up with the cat or watch my husband sleep undisturbed. It's rather like letting your baby continue to sleep on even though your arm has fallen asleep an hour ago. Totally worth the uncomfortable moment for the pure joy of the moment.
As I write this post, it has now been several months since the death of our cat. It's always good to know life goes on. Which indeed it does. My son, who is never short of an idea, decided that since our cat was no longer around, it was time to get a puppy. I managed to push this decision off for several months. However, on my daughter's birthday, I found myself at the shelter the new owner of not only a puppy, but also a brand new kitten. Surprise!
For the past two weeks I have been actively engaged in teaching our new pets where to dispose of their waste, breaking up fights between the two of them, bringing them two hours round trip to the shelter to take care of required visits, hauling them to the vet to cure kennel cough, cleaning the carpet when they didn't find the proper place to do their business and numerous other activities which any pet owner can identify with. As if it wasn't bad enough that I have been trying to potty train my children, I now have two pets to throw into the mix. When I find a puddle on the floor these days, I am never quite sure if the sippy cup leaked, my daughter had an accident or if it was one of our furry offenders.
Believe me, I have asked myself repeatedly how I ended up in this position. I can assure one and all that I did not particularly want a new pet. Yet, somehow, I find myself laying in bed tonight with a kitten attempting to nurse on my neck and a puppy dog with a crate that needs to be cleaned. I know I did this because I just couldn't bear to disappoint my children who have been asking for a puppy for close to two years now. Despite the fact that I knew I was going to be caring for them. So once again, I find myself between a cat and Macbook.
Here's a wonderful example of said awkward positions. My husband and I would climb into bed every night. (For those of you with dirty minds, this is not going where you think it is!) We don't have a television in our room, but my husband likes to curl up with his laptop and watch something before falling asleep. (For those of you who are thinking that this is the same end result as having a television, yes, I agree. However, this is not the point to this discussion, so we'll table that until another day. Now, where was I?) Inevitably, he falls asleep with the earbuds in his ears and the laptop laying next to me. Which means that he's taken over about 2/3 of the real estate in our bed. Then comes the cat. The cat likes to sleep curled up next to me, so there I am sandwiched between cat and Macbook. Don't want to wake my husband on the right side and don't want to disturb the cat on the left side. Instead, I awkwardly lay there for hours attempting to sleep without making anyone else uncomfortable. See the dilemma here?
There is no doubt in my mind that I have mentioned our cat in previous posts. Jingizu was a hand-me-down cat with a hand-me-down personality. While intensely loyal and friendly with our family, she was not fond of outsiders. Therefore, most people were not particularly fond of our cat. Despite her lack of popularity, we rather liked her unique traits and flair for life. I can say with great confidence that I have never had a cat like her nor am I ever likely to again.
It came as quite a shock one day when I received a phone call from my husband saying he had just found our cat and she was deceased. Awkward sleeping arrangements, short temper and uncomfortable social gatherings aside, she was my cat and I was going to miss her. The sad truth is that I allow myself to be caught in these awkward situations because in the moment it just doesn't seem that bad being uncomfortable if it means I get to curl up with the cat or watch my husband sleep undisturbed. It's rather like letting your baby continue to sleep on even though your arm has fallen asleep an hour ago. Totally worth the uncomfortable moment for the pure joy of the moment.
As I write this post, it has now been several months since the death of our cat. It's always good to know life goes on. Which indeed it does. My son, who is never short of an idea, decided that since our cat was no longer around, it was time to get a puppy. I managed to push this decision off for several months. However, on my daughter's birthday, I found myself at the shelter the new owner of not only a puppy, but also a brand new kitten. Surprise!
For the past two weeks I have been actively engaged in teaching our new pets where to dispose of their waste, breaking up fights between the two of them, bringing them two hours round trip to the shelter to take care of required visits, hauling them to the vet to cure kennel cough, cleaning the carpet when they didn't find the proper place to do their business and numerous other activities which any pet owner can identify with. As if it wasn't bad enough that I have been trying to potty train my children, I now have two pets to throw into the mix. When I find a puddle on the floor these days, I am never quite sure if the sippy cup leaked, my daughter had an accident or if it was one of our furry offenders.
Believe me, I have asked myself repeatedly how I ended up in this position. I can assure one and all that I did not particularly want a new pet. Yet, somehow, I find myself laying in bed tonight with a kitten attempting to nurse on my neck and a puppy dog with a crate that needs to be cleaned. I know I did this because I just couldn't bear to disappoint my children who have been asking for a puppy for close to two years now. Despite the fact that I knew I was going to be caring for them. So once again, I find myself between a cat and Macbook.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)