I have a cat. She is barely more than a kitten.
Mittens, the kitten.
Mittens is taking a central role in this little update and for two good reasons – 1) because she makes our house a home and 2) because of her approach to life.
turning to number 1.
I have never been the kind of person who likes to move home every 3 months. Some people I believe are built like that and enjoy making a bit of money and living in a building site but I for one really enjoy coming home to familiar surroundings. I like to know that my bathroom sink will be full of toothpaste from Poppy (my 5 year old girl) who has an amazing knack of putting 2″ of paste on her brush and then switching it on (it’s electric with princesses on it) before putting it in her mouth. Or from finding socks hung from lightshades, tucked down the back of the sofa, or even in the toaster – all from Joshua, my 7 year old boy who enters any home, strips to his underwear and then runs around like a mini-caveman doing cartwheels (he insists he is going to be a climbing instructer who does gymnastics and sings when he is older).
Then, there is Mittens.
Mittens is a young cat (around 7 or 8 months old) and has truly finished off the feeling of house to home. She is part tabby and part British blue which means she has patches of grey and white fur and stripes up her tail. She is also our “mighty hunter”. This means that she pounces on the unwary as they go up the stairs.
So what is the magic element of Mittens?
I think it is the fact that Mittens is very intuitive and if one of the children cry, Mittens will go and paw them or if I can’t sleep (I go through bouts of not sleeping) then Mittens will come and sit on me and purr away. It’s also the fact that she has become a little furry focus point for the family and we all adore that little cat. In turn, we all enjoy being at home and watching her bounce around the lounge, breaking even more items than my exceptionally clumsy partner.
I for one never underestimate the feeling of coming home. I love my work but walking in a happy home is a great feeling and that is certainly enhanced by Mittens.
Mittens approach to life.
Whilst watching Mittens stalking the bird feeder next door (she is a rubbish hunter and doesn’t hide, she just covers her eyes in the hope that the birds won’t see her) I realised that Mittens has the attitude that everyone should adopt.
1) have fun.
2) don’t over complicate things (I’ve never once seen the cat worrying about bills)
3) If at first you don’t succeed – try another two times and then give up and pretend that all along you intended to lick your own butt.
We should all be more like mittens (though I guess number 3 is optional because not everybody is that flexible).