the new alarm went off, my brain struggling to register it’s tone amidst the familiar comfort of dreams, when i heard one of the few sounds that could wake me faster than a newborn babe’s cry…  a kitten on the window screen…  as i stumbled toward the shower, i found pieces of paper and chinese food containers strewn about the kitchen and living room; proof that the kamikaze kitten destructo force had struck again…

by the time a shower and coffee began to make me feel human, it dawned on me that these kittens shared the same instinct found only in small children that must interrupt those mornings when it is important to leave early, leaving me the option of scrambling to clean up or leaving my house in a shambles until i return this afternoon…  other memories of a once three-year old boy painting himself and my room with tinted lip gloss or hiding half-eaten blocks of cheese behind the couch crept into my mind…

i took in the kittens to give my son a pet when my dog proved to be the reincarnation of Felix Unger and Oscar Madison rolled into one canine…  i suppose that subconsciously, i was taking in little ones to simultaneously appease and distract my maternal instincts as well…

realizing this, i began to relax, and a flood of thoughts flittered through my mind while remembering that the ability think for oneself and questioning of authority are attributes that i value…   why shouldn’t i value these in kittens as well as people?..  however, encouraging these in children in a healthy manner often raises the heckles of my inner control freak…  and productive parenting inolves the practice of a balance of controlled, thoughtful, disciplined questioning to decide if consequences are in order (other than natural consequences) and acceptance of the natural inclination of youth to push boundaries in order to guide them to define what those mean to them…  it occurs to me that the idea of trying to apply  any of this to adolescent kittens must be some form of a cosmic joke…

the realization of all of this prompts me to relax into a fantasy of kitten training…  by the time my coffee cup is drained, i realize that i wouldn’t change a bit of this…  this kind of entertainment is far more precious than anything TV could offer, and reminds me that though chaotic, furry, or otherwise messy, my life is full of love…