Furry Friend

My kids have been asking for a kitten for several months now. At one point I was on board with the idea of a fur ball running around, and then I decided that the kiddos getting a kitten simply added to my daily chores. So a firm NO has been seeping from my lips with every beg, plead and sob story about how much a neighbor around the corner needs to get rid of their kittens.

Said neighbor around the corner has 3 female cats that are obviously not spayed and they all had kittens at the same time! Not my problem—let them take that one up with the SPCA or Bob Barker, whichever.

Kalvin comes home from a bike ride with a petite fuzzy grey, meowing kitten with the sweetest little face and my heart melts. “Absolutely we can keep this kitten!” I exclaim. How could I resist such an adorable creature?

Kyle would not approve so I used a cowardly non-confrontational way to deal with that storm. I introduced this new addition to the family via email to Kyle. It was the safest way. I sent the email with a picture so he too could be taken over by the cuteness this little furry creature was empowered with. He was not too pleased. But, if I had asked him “Kyle, Kalvin brought home the cutest kitten and do you think we could keep him?” I would have heard an answer I did not want. So it was easier just to tell him rather than ask.

By the time he made it home from work I had already been to the store to pick up the necessities; litter boxes, food bowls, kitten food, toys and a jingly collar. So there was no going back.

Billy is quite the sweetheart, and has quickly won Kyle over. So much so that he doesn’t even complain about the Billy sleeping in our bed. I was even shocked by that one. There are times I have to put him on the floor at night because he will wake up and decide that my foot would make a great wrestling buddy, that my hair is a toy or that my eyelashes taste good enough to lick--- yes, he has licked my eyelashes.

Let's eat

Eating off my floors is not recommended. They are dirty, covered in Bevo’s dog hair and sticky from unknown substances. The kids drop everything on the floor. So much so, that I am beginning to wonder if Belle and Levi actually get anything into their mouths. If Levi was as slender as Belle I would be more concerned. There are crumbs, and bits of food, sticky drips from popsicles, dried messes that are unidentifiable-- often covered in dog hair. Luckily the shedding of the Bevo’s winter coat is almost complete. But I still let the kiddos eat stuff that has fallen on the floor….that whole 5 second rule is about a minute long in this house. I will look the food over for obvious debris to be removed and then return the fallen edible goodies into the hand of a kiddo willing to consume it. This does not work well with the bigger kiddos but the little ones have not complained yet. I have trained them so well.