a kitten named penny

While I was in the shower a few minutes ago, I thought of 4 things that I was going to get done before I went to bed.  I know one of them was writing tonight's blog...but the other 3 things are somewhere in the foggy area of my mind right now. That's okay. I'll think of them right before I fall into a nice deep sleep, or wake up suddenly at 3:00 am remembering what needed to be done!  Arg.

Onto today's post:

As some of you know we recently adopted the most adorable little kitten into our family about a month ago. Her name is Penny and I love her. From her squeaky little meow to the funny way her tail wiggles instead of wags, she is simply adorable.

She (mostly) belongs to my daughter who is 8 and who has grand ideas of being responsible.  Which is why the kitten only "mostly" belongs to her.  Originally, the kitten was to stay in her room at night so that she'd get used to sleeping with my daughter. That was "all she ever wanted" (can you hear the dramatic lilt of her voice?!)

So now in the evenings my daughter pretty much kicks the kitten out of her room.  Oh, did I forget to mention the spunky, energetic, hyper, attack-anything-that-moves personality that this Penny has?  Oh my. 

"She keeps attacking me!"

"She won't let me rest!"

"She hurt me!" (tears)

"I have had it with this cat!" (Seriously folks, her words, not mine).

As I listen to her, a part of me thinks, "Ha! Now she understands what it is like to be her mom!  Attacking me, no rest, hurting me and making me cry (for those of you new to the blog, my daughter is strong-willed so I'm truly not exaggerating on this!) and sometimes I have had it!!"  I just want her to see how difficult this whole parenting this is. 

And then this hits me: perhaps God wants me to see how difficult it is to "parent" me.  And perhaps that is why he put a mirror in front of me in the form of my children.  I can be stubborn.  I can be blind to my selfishness.  I put my wants and desires before Him.  I ignore Him.  And sometimes I do feel like slamming my bedroom door! 

*sigh*

One of my wise brothers (I have three) once told me that God chooses the children He gives us so that He can change us and "grow" us.  And it's interesting because the longer I do this whole parenting thing, the more I realize just how much I still need to grow.

KC

And now onto the 2nd thing I was going to get done tonight: laundry. I kinda wish that I had remember that just before falling asleep because I would have left it in the washer and dryer at that point.  Oh well.