Recently I was missing my mom more than usual, so I decided to visit her old Facebook page. While scrolling I found the picture below, which she had set as her profile picture at one point.
I smiled as I knew it represented her and her pets. Thinking how much I related to her and to the picture, I laughed when it dawned on me that I have precisely seven pets.
I wish she were here so we could laugh together. That picture really is an accurate depiction of my own life. It’s just so full of love.
And I say with love that this life with seven pets in your house is not for the faint of heart, especially for someone who likes to keep a tidy place like me. Being their source of entertainment and love, and food and water, they are always at me. And that is no complaint; I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Open kitchen cabinets, they jump in. Refrigerator, they jump in. Occasionally even the microwave. On game nights the game pieces go flying as the cats jump up and quickly bat our pawns and dice and lean against our decks of cards, sending them onto the floor in a scattered mess. The challenge lies in picking the cards and pieces up quickly before the dogs come swipe them up and carry them off to chew in a corner somewhere. I vacuum every single day of my life. Cleaning 12 dog feet every time they come in from the mud outside. Wiping down counters multiple times every day. A king sized bed full of pets, rarely is there room for me. My yard is like the moon, full of craters that my youngest dog has dug. They bring me toys and ropes when they want to play. The cats bat things off the counters for the dogs to chew and steal. Teamwork. They’re wrestling, fighting, they’re barfing on the floor. The cats have nightly parties, dumping their toyboxes and all one hears in my house overnight are the sounds of bells and balls being batted across the floor and hitting walls. The scampering and pitter pattering of 16 little cat feet all night long. And watch the doors when you go in and out ’round here. Someone’s always trying to escape. Don’t leave anything on the counter that you want to see again. They’re even hanging from the screen door. And if Jackson’s barking in your face that means he wants to play. And Misha jumps straight from the floor to your back and holds on like a backpack. I hope you don’t mind claws in your back.
This place is crazy and honestly sometimes it feels like an all out infestation!
Like I said, it’s not a life for the faint of heart. But it’s the life for me.
And as they say, one man’s chaos is another man’s peace… Err wait… Well you catch my drift.
Listening to This Is My Paradise by Bridget Mendler
