Pink Think: “What feeling is so nice as a child’s hand in yours? So small, so soft and warm, like a kitten huddling in the shelter of your clasp.” – Marjorie Holmes
For the longest time, I resisted my youngest’s pleas to have her own cat. Over the years, we have borrowed a neighbor’s and, just recently, almost stole another’s.
Now, we are the proud owners of not just one, but two cute, rambunctious kittens named Cricket and Junebug.
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A couple of weeks ago, my youngest came home saying she had found two stray cats in the undeveloped portion of our subdivision. I didn’t think anything of it; she is a stray-cat magnet.
Soon, she was making trips to the field with her brother almost every afternoon. One day, it all came to a head. I got home to her and her brother preparing their afternoon visit. He was holding a water bottle. We were already late for something and I was frazzled. I told them to hurry. As they sped off on their bikes, my heart softened. I saw these two sweet kids trying so hard to take care of kittens in their own way, and even my son had been recruited for this noble purpose.
Finally, I told my hubby we had better adopt the cats. He said I could have the honor of breaking the news.
***
They were teenage kittens, still small but already starting to form their lanky bodies. My kids had put out a little bowl for their water and some cat treats. As my youngest carried one in her arms, I told her, “Guess what? We can adopt them.”
“Really?” she squealed. Boy, did I feel like a hero.
But the story doesn’t end there. That evening, when we went to the field to take them home so my husband could fix them the next day (he is a veterinarian), they weren’t in the field. Minutes later, my oldest came running saying we should check with a neighbor; a black cat was sitting on their rock.
Turns out we almost catnapped a neighbor’s cats.
My youngest didn’t cry, though she looked understandably upset. A memory came back to me: someone was telling me just the other day her cat had kittens and did we want one?
***
We picked out not just one, but two kittens. They pounce-play all day and purr when I pick them up. They chase each other’s tails and hide from each other behind the laundry hamper. Right now they are sequestered in our laundry room, with a child’s gate between them and the dogs until they get used to each other.
Some days I sigh and wonder what I took on. But when I see the happiness on my kids’ faces as they hold the kittens in their arms, and when the kittens’ antics make me smile, I know it’s worth it.
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