Caring for Pets

I’ve been up since 6:00 a.m., which to some may not seem that early. I consider it early when your kid is still asleep, yet you are awake for the day.  This morning, my husband found our beloved cat, Matisse, laying in the hallway this morning, unable to move. I picked her up and gave her love and attention, put her in a laundry basket and my husband took her to the vet at 7:00 a.m. — we just couldn’t bear (or risk) trying to put her in her normal cat carrier.

So, now I wait to hear what is wrong with her.

Pets are like people to owners. It’s sad when they are hurt. I know that Matisse won’t be with me forever, she’s 14 after all, but I hope she’s got some more in her.

Do Parents Ever Sleep Through the Night?

I’ve written about getting kids to go to sleep — and sleep through the night, but what about the parents? I have no problem getting to sleep, but it seems I’m finding it hard to get a solid nights’ rest. I think we finally got my son back on track (I’ll have to write a separate post about how I did that), but now there are other things waking me up at night.

Sometimes it’s one of our pets — the cats are in the way on the bed, the dog needs to go outside, or it’s the neighbor’s dogs who are barking at something.

When I was working full-time I’d wake up in the middle of the night worrying about a project I was working on or a presentation I had to give. Sometimes it was stress waking me up, other times it was the excitement of the project. I do some of my best thinking at night.

I’ve learned to keep a notebook and pen on my nightstand for those middle of the night ideas. I wake up in the morning with something barely legible next to me, then I recall my great idea. The times I thought I would remember it on my own, I never did. Not only does writing it down help me remember, but it gets the idea out of my head so I can go back to sleep. I just wish that worked with the other distractions that keep me awake.

Pets Are Like Kids

I was up at 4:00 a.m. this morning, not for my son, but for my 10-year-old dog, Penny. She came into our bedroom wimpering to go outside, so I let her in the backyard thinking she’d be back in about a minute. Not so. She was gone. Through the gate.

This is not entirely new, although I can’t recall it happening in the middle of the night. She found an opening in the gate large enough to slip through. What do you do at 4:00 a.m. when your dog is loose in the neighborhood?

Let’s just end the story here by saying that pets are like kids at times — they need supervision, food, shelter, care and love.

Penny is back home now and maybe I’ll finally get some sleep.

Something Cute For the Long Weekend

Here’s an adorable photo to hold you over during the long weekend.