Never Say Never

I can't stand cats! I am allergic to them. They make me feel so miserable! My eyes swell up and water, I  start sneezing and running nose and just plain yucky! I have to take allergy medication whenever I go to someone's house who has cats. If I don't I pay for it! So to say I don't like cats is a HUGE understatement! My husband is not allergic to cats, but shares my deep dislike for them. I have more than once said "I will NEVER let a cat inside my house!"   

We use to have a neighbor who had several cats. When she moved she left them. And so they have multiplied and live all around and in the back field.  The other day, I took the kids swimming after church. We heard a "meowing" coming from the shed. It was loud and I could tell it was a young cat. So when Dan came out I asked him to go check it out. 

He came out of the shed with a little kitten in a box. There were two kittens in the shed abandoned and only one was still alive and he was not doing so good. 

Hannah got out of the pool and asked if she could look in the box. I said ok and the kids went and looked. Hannah started asking about the kitten. She asked why it was crying so much. My husband, was answering her. He explained that the kitten was probably hungry. Hannah asked where the mommy cat was, and Dan told her that the mommy cat was not there and was not taking care of the kitten like she was suppose to.   Right after Dan explained that the mommy cat was not there taking care of her baby like she was suppose to, Hannah said-

"like MY birth lady?"

 We realized our daughter was identifying with this little kitten.  We  had to help this kitten. Of course it was a holiday weekend, so the humane society was closed. So I wrapped up the little guy in a towel and brought him into my house. I could NOT believe I was bringing a CAT into my home! But Hannah's brown eyes and connection with the abandonment of this animal was too hard to fight against. We talked with the kids about how each one of them went to an emergency foster home before coming home to mom and dad. How the emergency home was where they were taken care of, fed and loved until we could get them.  How at Ben's emergency foster home they nicknamed him "Bob".   Ben thought that was funny! And so we were that emergency home for this little kitten.  For 48 hours we took care of the kitten.

Again we were taken by surprise by our girl and how much she thinks about her adoption. She is a very curious 5 year old and she likes details about everything. Right now she is working out her own story in her own mind. By the time we took the kitten into the humane society, I was sneezing and feeling pretty yucky, but my girl felt good about how we "helped the kitty". So it was worth it. She felt connected to this cat. He was not cared for by the one who birthed him...and neither was she. But she felt good about taking care of him and taking him in so they could find him a  new home! 

Just another life lesson we were able to use in teaching our children about adoption.  And lesson for mom... NEVER SAY NEVER!!!

Just looking at this pic makes me feel like sneezing :)  It is a pretty cute little kitten though!