Bless the Beasts (and the Children)

Back in the 70s, The Carpenters had a hit song with the same title as this blog post.  What I have to say has nothing to do with the song OR the movie of the same title.  I use it because it speaks to my Thanksgiving weekend experience...and the things we learn from our kids and our critters.

My family came to my little house-on-a-slab for the Thanksgiving holiday, including my grandkitty (Toffee).  We are always crammed into the abode but it always seems to work.  Toffee (aka Koshka--"cat" in Russian) was not at all skittish about her surroundings when let out of the carrier after the trip.  She's been here before.  This time, she seemed to feel at home, whatever that means to a cat.

Interestingly, capturing her to put her back in the carrier for the trip home is always tricky.  She has a sense about things.  Hallway doors to bedrooms get closed, limiting hiding spots.  People start putting on coats, suitcases come out, and people get really busy...and suddenly, the cat is largely absent.  This trip, she was hiding under the covers of Meg and Denis's bed.  An ominous lump.  When it came time for the carrier, Meg uncovered the cat who made a run for it, but ran TOWARD the humans instead of the other way.  Busted!  Poor Koshka!  How do they know??  (All of the dogs I ever had in my life seemed to know when the bathwater that was being drawn was for them instead of for the humans and could be found hiding under the bed.)

There were issues with the children, too.  Who knew that putting up Grandma's Christmas tree would strike fear in the hearts of the young'uns?  I can use the help and always considered it a family activity, but apparently we have put so much emphasis on it that the children run the other way!  Needless to say, I didn't press the issue.  My tree is still not up.  I actually considered not doing it at all, but that would be unAmerican!

Within 20 minutes of the family's departure, I was informed that Robin had left her iPod in her bedroom and would need to be mailed.  (Done.)  And after they returned home, they were missing Meg's Kindle and the charger cord for Robin's school-issued Chromebook.  I did a hunt complete with flashlight, standing on my head looking under things.  Nothing!  Thankfully, both were found with them before we all went to bed in our respective homes that night.  Whew!

There were other issues, of course, but nothing earth-shattering or that need to be discussed here.  I was happy to have the family here...and even happier that we shared Grandkid Time with the other Plainfield grandparents.  As we age, our collective time to spend with the grandchildren is limited. I'm not at all unhappy about how things went. God is good all the time!