Deal Breakers

Since I've added a couple kiddos to the household, I'm quickly learning what my deal-breakers are.  By deal breaker, I mean quirks that drive me crazy!

First, I hate doing laundry.  So, I'm imposing limits on how many towels/underwear/socks can be used each day.  Otherwise, I have one child who thinks 2 towels a day is great, plus 3 pair of underwear and 2 pair socks.  The other has 1 towel, but 2 undies and 3 socks.  At this rate, they are out of undies and socks before noon every other day!

Another deal breaker is the pets.  Little One thinks the dog deserves half of every meal eaten.  Blaze is great with this.  In fact, he parks beneath the chair waiting for his cut.  However, his tummy is not as gracious, and I'm having to clean up messes from an overfull dog.  So, I'm limiting the amount of treats and food he gets.  Both kids are trying to sneak the cats into their beds at night.  This doesn't bother me except that the cats do not stay put, and end up running wild at night instead.  So, Hatteras, the kitten, is locked up in the basement and Indy, the older one, is locked out of some of the rooms.

Neither kid likes "spicy" food.  I love spicy food.  So, I'm trying to figure out how to sneak the spices in, as it appears once they try things, they like them.  We'll see if the Mexican food ban sticks or not.  We also have the typical ages issues: the teen wants to eat to lose weight (although not a pound overweight) so won't eat some "too fattening" things (like celery!), usually saying this as bags of M&M's are eaten, while the toddler doesn't want to eat anything and has to have minimum bites eaten set for each food.

I'm sure other things will crop up, but for now, I'm trying to avoid too many issues and just let the kids be kids.

Indy's Bad Day

I took all three of my pets to the vet yesterday.  Indy, my older cat, had a rough time.  First, I caught him and tried to get him stuffed into the kennel.  He escaped, but not far enough.  So, after a brief chase, I cornered him and then stuffed him into the kennel.  He commenced meowing. And did not stop.

Meanwhile, I captured Hatteras, the kitten, and put him in another kennel.  He started meowing.  And did not stop.

Of course, Blaze, the dog, was following and watching all of these steps, barking.

When we got to the vet's, Indy had urinated in the kennel.  His white fur on his paws, tummy and tail was a nice light yellow color.  It stunk!  After his shots, I stuffed him back into the kennel (and I do mean stuff), as best that I could without getting the urine all over me or the floor.

Once we got home, I took the kennel with Indy inside to the bathroom, where I filled the tub two inches deep with water and put the whole thing in.  Then I let Indy out.  Needless to say, he was not happy and spent the rest of the day and night glaring at me. 

Well, glaring when he wasn't cowering in fear that I was going to pick him up again and do all sorts of bad things to him involving needles, water and/or kennels.

Of course, bad day is relative.  Hatteras had to stay at the vet overnight and be declawed and neutered. 

New Family Member: Hatteras

I owned one cat, Indy and one dog, Blaze.  To me, this was an ideal number as they had each other to play with.  Once Indy was declawed in the front, he was a good playmate for Blaze.  Blaze is always welcoming to other animals, as long as he still gets his ears scratched regularly.

My cousin had several kittens on her farm that were needing a family.  I had resisted taking one home until the kittens had slowly been killed off by assorted farm accidents and tomcats.

I visited her on a Friday, and by the next Wednesday, another cat had disappeared.  So, my kind heart decided to take in another cat.  He's quite a character and seems to be fitting in with the other two.

Hatteras, as I've named him after one of my favorite places, was very gentle with my niece and nephew, despite being carried around a couple times by his tail and neck!

Now we are working on a few words like "No" and "Off."  I decided to lock him in the basement at night as he tends to wake me up too often to play.  He keeps Indy quite entertained, and Indy has learned to put Haty in his place when he's tired.

I realized today that I am already going through cat litter and food at a quicker rate, and I fear a moving water bowl is on the horizon.  But, for now, everyone is settling in quite easily.

My current Kids

A big part of my life is spent taking care of my pets, a Sheltie named Blaze and a fluffy white cat named Indy. Blaze was picked up at a farm who bred Shelties, while Indy came to me via an animal rescue.

At first, Blaze was sure they would be friends, while Indy determined that they would be mortal enemies to the death. After he was declawed, Indy decided they could be friends. Now, when I bring Blaze home from the kennel after a vacation, Indy runs up to him and licks under his chin. Blaze is equally happy to see the cat (and sometimes will groom Indy as well!).

I am amazed at how much they improve my life. They are constant companions, and both like to "talk" during the course of our time together. Blaze will even prompt me if I am running late for work (although this is more because he's anxious for his treat, not because of his concern for my tardiness).

If I adopt a child, the child will likely be added to the mix. I'm not certain how that will go, but I do know that Blaze likes children. Indy may not have ever seen a child, for all I know. I'm sure he'll come around eventually.