Pet Peeves

Just when I thought our home was toddler-free and we no longer had to worry about things like the dangers of ingesting poinsettias and breaking priceless, sentimental ornaments...enter: Snickers the Cat. This darling feline entered our home and ultimately our hearts at the start of the school year. She was rescued as a kitten from the Walmart parking lot and her picture was sent out via email. I responded knowing all along that I was probably the last in a long line of takers. As luck would have it I "won" a free kitten for my daughter.

Now, I have always been a "dog person"--I always liked the idea of cats...the way they always slinked quietly around the house...the way they napped in the window sills of reclusive writers. But I was always turned off by the thought of cat hair everywhere and catching a cat strolling along my kitchen counters. Why is it that for every thing we swear off we end up not only doing, but, in an odd twist of fate, ignoring out of sheer love. (Much like the time I swore to my young, naive, self that I would NEVER EVER let my baby sit in the front seat of a grocery cart wearing only a diaper and a white t-shirt---did it. NEVER EVER would I leave my kids in the car while I paid for gas---did it. And that's ALL that I'm going to admit to at this time).

And so this Christmas finds me lifting a cat off of my kitchen table, while my kids are dressed in shorts despite the freezing temperatures. Snickers is still young and extremely curious and as if my Bombay mosquito netting and exotic feather swag were not enough to occupy her time and attention I thought I would throw in a lit and decorated Christmas tree. Thinking that "I'll just tell her 'no'" was going to do the trick I carried on as usual. As the pictures show- Snickers took great delight in 'her new toys' while I prayed she didn't bring the tree down on top of her. Just this evening I found a wooden deer toppled over on its' side far away from its' original perch in the window sill. The rest of the wooden nativity scene was slightly askew but still intact. A stuffed Santa ornament lay on its' side beneath the tree. When I went to re-hang it I noticed that the threaded loop was shredded...hmmm. I have a Christmas book collection I like to display along the staircase to our loft---but it appears that Snickers likes to push the top one over first so that it falls onto ALL the others below it like gigantic dominoes.

They always say, "If you can't beat 'em...join 'em" and since my heart is already won over the only thing I can do now is throw some glitter in the litter and call it Christmas!