A Mother's Day Story
Posted: Fri May 11, 2007 9:04 am
We are never as in control as we like to think . . .
We had this great 10 year old cat named Jack who just
recently died. Jack was a great cat and the kids
would carry him around and sit on him and nothing ever
bothered him. He used to hang out and nap all day
long on this mat in our bathroom.
Well we have 3 kids and at the time of this story they
were 4 years old, 3 years old and 1 year old. The
middle one is Eli. Eli really loves chapstick. LOVES
it. He kept asking to use my chapstick and then
losing it. So finally one day I showed him where in
the bathroom I keep my chapstick and how he could use
it whenever he wanted to but he needed to put it right
back in the drawer when he was done.
Last year on Mother's Day, we were having the typical
rush around and try to get ready for Church with
everyone crying and carrying on. My two boys are
fighting over the toy in the cereal box. I am trying
to nurse my little one at the same time I am putting
on my make-up. Everything is a mess and everyone has
long forgotten that this is a wonderful day to honor
me and the amazing job that is motherhood.
We finally have the older one and the baby loaded in
the car and I am looking for Eli. I have searched
everywhere and I finally round the corner to go into
the bathroom. And there was Eli. He was applying my
chapstick very carefully to Jack's . . . rear end.
Eli looked right into my eyes and said "chapped." Now
if you have a cat, you know that he is right--their
little butts do look pretty chapped. And, frankly,
Jack didn't seem to mind.
And the only question to really ask at that point was
whether it was the FIRST time Eli had done that to the
cat's behind or the hundredth.
And THAT is my favorite Mother's Day moment ever
because it reminds us that no matter how hard we try
to civilize these glorious little creatures, there
will always be that day when you realize they've been
using your chapstick on the cat's butt.
We had this great 10 year old cat named Jack who just
recently died. Jack was a great cat and the kids
would carry him around and sit on him and nothing ever
bothered him. He used to hang out and nap all day
long on this mat in our bathroom.
Well we have 3 kids and at the time of this story they
were 4 years old, 3 years old and 1 year old. The
middle one is Eli. Eli really loves chapstick. LOVES
it. He kept asking to use my chapstick and then
losing it. So finally one day I showed him where in
the bathroom I keep my chapstick and how he could use
it whenever he wanted to but he needed to put it right
back in the drawer when he was done.
Last year on Mother's Day, we were having the typical
rush around and try to get ready for Church with
everyone crying and carrying on. My two boys are
fighting over the toy in the cereal box. I am trying
to nurse my little one at the same time I am putting
on my make-up. Everything is a mess and everyone has
long forgotten that this is a wonderful day to honor
me and the amazing job that is motherhood.
We finally have the older one and the baby loaded in
the car and I am looking for Eli. I have searched
everywhere and I finally round the corner to go into
the bathroom. And there was Eli. He was applying my
chapstick very carefully to Jack's . . . rear end.
Eli looked right into my eyes and said "chapped." Now
if you have a cat, you know that he is right--their
little butts do look pretty chapped. And, frankly,
Jack didn't seem to mind.
And the only question to really ask at that point was
whether it was the FIRST time Eli had done that to the
cat's behind or the hundredth.
And THAT is my favorite Mother's Day moment ever
because it reminds us that no matter how hard we try
to civilize these glorious little creatures, there
will always be that day when you realize they've been
using your chapstick on the cat's butt.