I'm cat sitting for a friend who is out of town for the holidays. She has four cats, and one of them has the same name as my son. I found this out a week before my son was born, but as my husband and I weren't telling anyone the name until he had arrived, I had to keep it to myself.
As I was getting ready to go check on the cats the other day I thought, "Wouldn't it be nice for the two Greyson's to meet?" I further thought, "I bet he would love helping saying hello to the cats while I feed them and take care of the litter." Have you ever had one of those situations where you didn't really think things through? This was one of those situations.
Her cats are very nice. Well, the ones you see. Greyson is at the door and ready for you to lavish any and all attention on him from the moment you arrive. Blue—who is not blue but white, and is named for a blue moon—is also quite outgoing and friendly. There are two other cats, Maya and Sarge, and they weren't going to make an appearance, even if a truck delivering fresh tuna arrived in their bedroom. But that's okay, two friendly cats is enough for one small two-year-old.
I explained in the car how he was going to meet a cat that had the same name as he did. Did he understand, I wondered? At two, did he comprehend that more than one person (or cat) can have the same name as you do? I wasn't sure. I think I over-explained, this being one of my faults.
We arrived and here comes Greyson down the stairs. My son was all smiles. We talked for a few minutes and my son did say once, "Hi Greyson," so I think he may have understood after all. Then on to the business of taking care of the cat's needs. This is where things got hinky.
How he spied the litter scoop, nestled in it's caddy, before I even got fully in the bathroom is beyond me, but he had it out and he was ready to scoop. He was ready to scoop litter into the food, and solid wastes onto the floor. I was trying to help him understand what was important to scoop and what we didn't need to scoop; how you shake the scoop to leave behind the unused litter and only deposit the chunks of solids into the Litter Genie. He didn't care, he just wanted to scoop. I finally told him I had to do it and asked him if he could find Blue or Greyson.
While I was busy scooping, let's say about four-and-half seconds later, I looked up to see him carrying the very full cat dish of dry food across the bathroom. "Wait, what are you doing?" I say "That needs to stay on the floor." I found myself saying in an alarmed tone. I realized he wanted to bring the food to the cats, and while this was a sweet gesture, the cats didn't want their food hand-delivered by an unknown two-year-old. I convinced him to set the big bowl back down carefully and then went back to scooping. I looked over just seconds later to see him carrying the other bowl out into the bedroom. The full-of-round-food-that-will-roll-everywhere-including-under-the-bed-when-dropped, bowl with a smile on his face More convincing that the food needed to stay where it was and another mess narrowly averted.
I got the litter clean and then started working on the restocking the water dishes and food bowls and I was scooping out some wet food into two bowls when I looked around to see him reaching into the litter box to see what fun this litter would be to play with. No no no no no. Sigh. I sent him in another direction while I hurriedly looked for the shy two cats to make sure they were okay.
Where did my son go? He's back in the bathroom where everything is exciting and he's decided to put some cat food into one of the litter boxes. How nice of him. He circumvented the whole digestive system not to mention the cats and put the food strait into the waste container. Removal of tiny balls of cat food ensues while I try to keep him out of the toilet that's making interesting noises because the fancy cat litter box is doing a rinse/flush cycle.
Downstairs we go and while I'm putting my jacket on he decided the cat tubes look fun. And they do...if you're a cat. He gets into this box/tube thing and then says to me, "stuck." I had to drag him out one arm at a time and then, for some reason, his head was still stuck inside. But we made it, and no cat or human was injured in the process.
Did he have fun? After all that, I sure hope so. I'm am not bringing him back.
Did I mention it's Christmas day? Happy Christmas to everyone. We had a fun one so far here. I hear people cooking in the kitchen upstairs. I love holidays, family and food.
The Big Boy Update: He and his sister got a child-sized kitchen set with a stove, refrigerator, oven, sink and even a working ice maker. It was hard to get him to focus on other presents he was so excited about the kitchen and the prospect of, "cooking" when he came downstairs to the tree and presents this morning.
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: Opening of the presents. She understands they're to be opened (I think) but she doesn't seem to be in a hurry to open them. We put her on a different person's lap for each present and had them open her presents for her this morning. She liked the company and the gifts together.
Someone Once Said: Real wealth, on the scale that calls for a battery of finaglers to hold down taxes, would ground you as certainly as resigning would. Big money isn’t hard to come by. All it costs is a lifetime of devotion. But no ballerina ever works harder. Captain, that’s not your style; you don’t want to make money, you simply want to spend money.
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