11/10/12 The Bunch

At the risk of repeating myself, one of the reasons I'm especially glad we got two cats is that their personalities are really, really different. Meow-stache is a wonderful companion for me, but she's getting increasingly nervous around the kids.

Unfortunately, the kids are hard to persuade that when Meow-stache hisses, to leave her alone -- and for a long time, like hours or even the rest of the day. Katrina didn't heed this last week, and got scratched when she reached out to the fearful kitty, who was hiding under a chair, even after that very clear warning.

Zorro, on the other hand, is very relaxed with them!

I'm still pinching myself that it worked out so well, that the kids got one and I got one. If only I could find her!

11/10/12

11/8/12 Losing it

I patted Julian's knapsack today, and it was light. Where was the nifty fabulous pocket fold-up rain-jacket I got from Land's End, that fit perfectly into a knapsack front pocket? Missing, of course.

This is infuriating. Julian has already lost 3 lunch bags this year too. Even aside from the confusion of two homes, he leaves things behind like no one's business. Katrina and Gabriel combined have lost half the number of things Julian has.

So what to do? It's easy to say "fine, let him go without a jacket" -- but in practice, that's not so easy. Teachers and other parents make comments; it affects his going on field trips, being outdoors, whatever. A cold kid is far less cooperative, and making him "suffer" all winter long with no jacket has no practical effect -- he still loses stuff right and left.

The lunch bags are also annoying -- I could give him paper lunch bags every day, but those are a much bigger hassle for me than real lunch bags (that he keeps losing), and I'm not about to reward him with pizza-hot-lunch and chocolate milk for losing lunch bags. Fortunately, those are inexpensive enough that I can insist he "buy" new ones with lost allowance.

Last summer, for daycamps, I tethered sunscreen to his knapsack, by punching a hole in the crimp and using a coil keychain to attach it to his knapsack. Great idea, right? Except then he left behind his whole knapsack, tethered sunscreen and all!!

Is there a remedy for a chronic loser?!

11/8/12

11/6/12 The Companion and The Playmate

An unexpected benefit -- or safety? -- of getting two cats is that you have better coverage for possible roles.

For us, that means that it turns out that Zorro is indeed becoming the "playcat" for the kids, while Mommy-Meowstache is a better companion for me.

In fact, to my surprise, the Mommy-kitty is downright nervous around the kids -- hiding all the time, and even hissing at them sometimes when they try to intrude into her safehouses under furniture. Katrina got scratched the other day, minutes after she'd been soundly warned by a hiss -- which I'm sure she'll heed next time!

Mommy-kitty was nothing like this in the kitty adoption room, and it even so happened that I brought a kid with me to confirm (well, ok, my friend brought her kid, but still, an 8-year-old was present) -- and there was no sign of concern).

I should note that Gabriel reports no trouble with Mommy-Meowstache, and he spends a lot of time hanging with her alone when he gets home from school -- but she's hissed at him a few times if there's another kid around. She hisses at Zorro the most though, so maybe she's just fussy.

Even now, I'd say that Mommy-Meowstache is fine with the kids if they just observe her behavior and back off and stay backed off. But that's no fun for a kid! So thank goodness there is the brave, playful, social out-there Zorro to play with.

Meantime, when the kids are in bed, I'm quite happy to have the Mommy-kitty emerge from her enclaves and follow me around, purring constantly.

She's by far the more complex character -- much more interested in things outside, investigating suspicious activity, more observant; her play is deadly serious. Zorro spends more time lying on the bed with me and purring, but I think she'd do more of that if he weren't there.

Meantime, I love how when the kids aren't around, she's always checking in on me, almost like she's guarding me. She must know how much I need that right now.

11/6/12