We recently acquired a new cat. And by acquired, I mean that my sister’s (Melissa’s) cat had kittens and the girls badgered me about keeping one until I said yes. This makes two cats for us…both outside cats. The first important thing you should do when you get a new pet is to name it. My girls have an unusual knack for naming things. They insist that each and every living thing in our house have a first AND middle name. We also have to address them as their first AND middle name, but not the humans in our house. They do not get the same courtesy. Our dog’s name is Dottie Puddin’, our first cat is Poppy Cat, and we once had a fish named Jumping Wanda. The little kitten we got is a calico, so naturally, they wanted to name her Sheriff Callie. With a little persuasion, we settled on Callie Cupcake. Isn’t she cute? (the cat, too.)
We were out on the porch feeding all of our critters, and this conversation happened.
Lilly: Mama, is Callie Cupcake a girl kitty or a boy kitty?
Me: She’s a girl.
Lilly: When is she gonna make her nest?
Me: Her nest? Honey, cats don’t make a nest.
Sophie: Well then where is she going to lay her eggs?
Me: Kitties don’t lay eggs. Besides, we’re gonna have her fixed so she can’t have more kitties.
Lilly and Sophie: WHY???
Me: Because we don’t need a bunch of kitties running around here. Two is plenty.
Sophie: Well I have an idea. If we let Callie Cupcake have some kitties, we can just give them back to Mimi.
Me: I like the way you think!
Mimi, IF we don’t get Callie Cupcake to the vet to be spayed before she finds a boyfriend, then don’t be surprised if you find a box of kitty eggs on your porch one morning.
************************************************************
Making some macaroni and cheese the other day, Sophie was watching me and asking about all the ingredients and then she came to the cheese.
Sophie: Mama, why do you have cheese out?
Me: Because it’s mac-n-CHEESE.
Sophie: But why do you put it in there?
Me: Because mac-n-CHEESE requires that you put CHEESE in it.
Sophie: Oooooh! Because if you don’t put cheese in it, you just have mac-n!
************************************************************
Walter was telling Sophie and Lilly about a Cirque du Soleil show that we saw before they were born and was having a hard time explaining exactly what these artists can do. So, like any good parent, he showed them a video. He had told them that the artist can do anything. While they were watching the video, they seemed mesmerized by it and were especially intrigued by the body contortionists. Lilly was in the floor trying her hand at some of it when Sophie asked Walter, “Daddy, you said they can do anything?” Walter said, “They sure can! Look at all that neat stuff they’re doing.” Sophie watched a minute more then said, “But can they bale hay, Daddy?” Touché, Sophie…touché!
The Ballard Five 
Leave a comment