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Cats are kids too.

I have one human child. Bill Cosby said, "Anyone who has an only child doesn't have kids." It's true. You don't have one daring the other to jump off the roof into the fluffy snow, (like my brother did to me. Yup, I jumped. Got the wind knocked out of me and my back hurt for a couple of days.) You don't have one telling the other that Vanilla not only smells delicious, but it taste yummy too and gets you to take a big gulp, (Yup my brother did that to me too. It burned all the way down...and back up again.) I don't know how my mother stood us. She must have had amazing patience, but I remember my brother and I testing that theory. A lot.




They say, you only get what you can handle. As a single mom for several years, I wasn't able to handle much. Memories of those years make me wonder how I managed to raise such a well-adjusted kid. As a nurse, I sometimes worked double shifts to make ends meet. When I had a date, I had to hope my ex-husband didn't find out and do something jerky. Sigh. But somehow, we made it through. As a mother, you just do what you have to do. By the time I remarried, my daughter was thirteen and my baby days were over. So one is all I got.

Now, because my daughter has grown up and moved into her own condo, I don't have kid or kids. I have a cat. He can be just as funny as a kid sometimes, but again...he's an only cat. I think when he leaves us (and we are SO not looking forward to that day) we'll get two. Maybe a brother and sister. My mom would be proud.

Comments

  1. As a single Mom myself I can understand where you are coming from. My son is now 21 and I am very proud of him. Though there was a time I did try to sell him to the cheapest bidder, *sigh* no takers, but that was during his hormonal puberty years. Now he is a great person that I actually like.

    Since he has moved out I'm even more grateful for the cats. I like having a clean apartment, but I miss my Son's company. The oldest furbaby is 10 years, the other is around 3 years. They are great company and good for a laugh a couple of times a day.

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  2. As a single mom, I can relate. My son sent me fresh tulips for Mother's Day from where he's stationed now, with a note that he has finished half of his flying missions to be eligible for his navigator training with more news as soon as he can call me. And my daughter is fixing me a special meal for the occasion...so I feel doubly blessed. :) She even offered to get me a chocolate lab puppy. :) But for now...I'm wrapped up in all the love I can handle--writing romances. :)

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  3. I have absolutely no idea how single parents do it. One or more kids... doesn't matter. I'm in awe. The fact that she's well-adjusted is testament to how well you did your job.

    Congrats.

    And I'd highly recommend 2 fur-babies. They need someone to keep them occupied. Or to dare them...

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  4. I don't know how single moms do it. You're awesome!

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  5. I should have clarified that I was a single mom for 7 years but I'm married to the love of my life now.

    It can happen!!! Hang in there all you single moms who want to find love again. And yes, it's SO much easier having someone to whine to! LOL.

    Ash

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  6. Terry, congratulations to your son and what good kids they are to take such good care of you on Mother's Day.

    My hubby and his brother make brunch and all the ladies get to sit back and enjoy.

    My daughter will bring me something wrapped up to open and my m-i-l will bring me a plant. At least I'm pretty sure that's what will happen. It's tradition now.

    Ash

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  7. Ash, so glad you are now married to the love of your life with a great kid who grew up just fine.

    As to the cats--well, I think I've said before I'm not an animal person but both my kids are. I don't know how that happened.

    Amelia

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  8. LOL Ash!
    Sounds like you and your brother were a source of a lot of your mother's gray hair! ;-)

    I only have one human child too, and like Jessica said, during those puberty years it was VERY questionable that he was the same species! I kept saying, "He won't LIVE til 15..." then 16, then 17, but somehow he did survive and so did I! He's a very nice young man and I'm proud of him, just like you are (rightly so) of your daughter!

    But my 2 'fur kids' definitely keep me going. They are dogs, but you'll never convince them of that fact. LOL!

    AC

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  9. LOL, Lucynda, I know the type of dog that thinks it's people.

    My cat thinks he's King--and often is!

    Ash

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  10. I'm in the process of finding a new apartment, and I haven't decided if I want to get cats yet, but if I do, there will defintiley be two of them... My childhood cat, Bootsy, was a HORRIBLE only child, and never likes anyone. He only tolerates my parents, and now lives with them. :) Have a great weekend!

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  11. Maybe I will appreciate my obnoxious I-am-God's-gift-to-the-human-world brat cat better once my kids are out of the house. There is hope yet!

    I am blessed to have a partner in the parenting world. My mom was a single parent for most of my growing up years, as was my sister to her kids, so I know how rough it is. Yes, it can be done and done very well, but it sure is nice to have help.

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  12. I was a single parent of two for the 14 loooong months my husband was deployed. Hardest thing I've ever done. I have immense respect for all those raising kids on their own! Praise God hubby came home! As for pets, I seem to acquire them in multiples and then get a few more. Not sure how that happens...

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  13. I'm thankful that I have a partner in parenting, DH is a much better parent than I am, although, I'm the disciplinarian--aka, the mean one, lord only knows what the kids would be like if I was as laid back as DH is.

    I knew from the time my ballerina was 2 weeks old that she'd be out of the house by the time she was 14. My best friend was with me the day I said it aloud, and thank God, she never forgot. She does tease me though saying that I expected Twinkle Toes to end up in jail instead of a dance school - LOL. I pat myself on the back because I was the one who taught her to use her gifts for good instead of evil. *grin*

    As for my furry kids, if you've read my books, you know them. Tripod from Breakfast in Bed is my cat Raja (okay, so Raja doesn't drink coffee, but the rest is the God's honest truth). Jasmine is in my next book and my dog Sambuca is just chomping at the bit for one of his own.

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