Chapstick
We had this great 10-year-old cat named Jack who just
recently died.
Jack was a great cat, and the kids would carry him around
and sit on him and nothing ever bothered him. He used to
hang out and nap all day long on the mat in our bathroom.
We have three kids, and at the time of this story, they were
4 years old, 3 years old, and 1 year old. The middle one is
Eli. Eli really loved Chapstick. LOVED it. He kept asking to
use my Chapstick and then would lose it. Finally one day I
showed him where in the bathroom I keep my Chapstick and
explained he could use it whenever he wanted to, but he
needed to put it right back in the drawer after he finished.
That year on Mother's Day, we were having the typical rush
around and try to get ready for church with everyone crying
and carrying on. My two boys were fighting over the toy in
the cereal box. I was trying to nurse my little one at the
same time I was putting on my make-up. Everything was a
mess, and everyone had long forgotten that this was a
wonderful day to honor me and the amazing job that is
motherhood.
We finally had the older one and the baby loaded in the car
and I was looking for Eli. I searched everywhere and I
finally went into the bathroom. There was Eli. He was
applying my Chapstick very carefully to Jack's ... rear end.
Eli looked right into my eyes and said, "Chapped." Now if
you have a cat, you know that he is right -- their little
bottoms do look pretty chapped. And, frankly, Jack didn't
seem to mind. The only question to ask at that point was
whether it was the FIRST time Eli had done that to the cat's
behind or the hundredth!?!
And THAT is my favorite Mother's Day moment ever because it
reminds us that no matter how hard we try to civilize these
glorious little creatures, there will always be that day
when you realize they've been using your Chapstick on the
cat's butt.
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