Looking For Reassurance

If you're here looking for reassurance that things will get better as your family becomes more mature, I'm not going to give it to you.  The truth is that if you're doing things right (in my opinion), it gets to be just a bit harder as we, the children, the pets and our parents grow older.

I liken the difficulty level of most of my days to that of herding cats.  I have had one cat of my own, a second gifted cat that was fairly ferile and psycho, and an unlimited number of strays live under my porch.

Over the years, I have come to appreciate that keeping my house and my life in order is like rounding up the cats that I have had in my life.

WeeBo...  I had a tabby cat named Weebo that my friend Aminah gave me after her hotty cat had a litter.  Weebo was combo sweet, lazy and manipulative.  If I needed love, he was always there to cuddle.  If I needed him to do something, he would become limp yet not resist when I moved him.  On the other hand, when he was ready to do something, he'd smack on my cheek until I moved or leap onto the cabinets for attention.

Crazy Ferile Kitty...  Fire red hair, hissing, observing, eating...  that's what I remember about this cat...  Crazy Ferile Kitty was a mean little something.  As long as you let him be, he was just fine.  If you fed him, he was good.  If you stayed away from him, he was good.  If you tried to pet him or put him in his kitty lane it was a full on cat fight.  Sadly, Crazy Ferile Kitty went away (quite mysteriously I might add).  I was sad but relieved all at the same time.

Pack-O-Kats...  There is absolutely nothing cuter than a momma cat and her brand new kittens.  She protects them fiercely and they follow her around like little troopers.  However, they are also quite evasive--they disappear at the drop of a hat.  You can try to bribe the momma cat and her kitties, but they will not come out of their hidey-hole until you disappear or they at least think you have gone away.

If you're a parent who is perfect in every way, you are probably having trouble processing how dealing with your family is like herding cats.  For the rest of us (mostly perfect folks), it is quite easy to see.  When you deal with family, you deal with personality.  Not only do you have to know what makes everyone play by your rules, but you have to know what will make each family member shut down.

So, if you're looking for reassurance that your family is going to be easier to organize as you get older, forget about it.  Instead, you'll get the most out of family relationships if you value growth, change and compromise.

Now...  Let's get to working on herding those cats!