A Family

"While we try to teach our children all about life, our children teach us what life is all about."

~Angela Schwindt

Alan and I are Furbaby parents. Don't laugh... it's a thing! At least try to understand, because I am here to tell you how rewarding and life affirming it is! Little boy humans, little boy cats, same thing! You might not understand that unless you are a pet person! But here is the point... you teach your human children values, and manners, and most importantly all about love! You do the same thing with cats. Do you think sibling rivalry only goes on in human families? If you do, you would be wrong! 

We brought Hendrix home first, Dylan followed about a week or so later. Hendrix is a wonderful, loving, joyful cat, but blending the two personalities took some effort on our side and theirs! Within the first couple months Dylan was already showing signs that he truly loved Hendrix, and Hendrix had assumed the role of Dylan's, and our, caregiver! He watches over all of us!

Dylan and Hendrix are a little over 5 years old now. They are adult cats, set in their routines, and ways! A couple weeks ago, along came baby Joey! Dylan is no longer, "the baby," and he seems a bit upset about that! Hendrix isn't sure he wants another brother who may not want to play with him. Dylan is a bit of a stick in the mud sometimes, so I am hoping as we break out the toys which the 3 boys share, we will find that important common ground.

It is already going amazingly well. Patience, patience, patience! Dylan's favorite game is chasing a ball down the hall, and bringing it back! He loves fetch! Hendrix runs through the house, but never interferes with Dylan's game! Hendrix likes to play with stuffed animals. He can throw them really high in the air, and is excellent at catching them! While he plays, Dylan sits on the sidelines, and watches his brother play! They both enjoy the laser mouse game, and Zhu Zhu pets RULE! Joey is really enjoying the laser mouse game also, and today all three cats played, with zero drama! It was amazing!

Now, I bet you are wondering about how you teach a cat values. Well, Elvis was the best example of that. He would put his toys away every night, when he saw Alan and I go to bed. He insisted that 10:00 PM was our bedtime, by coming into whatever room we were in, standing in front of us, and staring. HARD. And he would refuse to move, until we got up and went to bed! He was an amazing cat, and he was that once in a lifetime pet, that you never get over!

He has been gone over 5 years, and I still think about him every single day. I know one day, hopefully 20 or 30 years from now, I will have to face losing one of my furbabies again, and honestly I don't know how I will survive it! I just don't! But I try not to waste a single moment thinking about it. We are all in the here and now. Families come in all shapes, sizes, colors, and fur, and I wouldn't change that for anything!

Mood: Happy

~Me :)