Today, I watched a kitten bounce around my living room, digging her claws into every permeable surface, and it occurred to me just how much of my furniture I have sacrificed to little destructive beasts over the years. I never set out to hand over an ottoman to the forces bent on its demise, but that is the inevitable result of bringing such things into my home. Is it bad that I have become numb to these things by now? I used to freak out when cats scratched the furniture, when dogs tore up door frames, or when children took highlighter pens to the vintage couch. I still don't like seeing wanton destruction (am I the only one who tallies up the replacement costs when watching action movie explosions and car chases?), but I have become far more resilient than I ever was before. I think it helps knowing that couches can be reupholstered or replaced, and that painter's caulk works miracles on door frames. At no point did it occur to me to stop raising kittens or children. There will always be cats living with me, and if I am extremely lucky, someday my daughters will bring the chaos of grandchildren into my house. I know the man will continue rescuing dogs as long as he is able to go outside under his own power.
I went shopping today for a dress to wear to a party honoring one of the coolest women I know. While I was at a large store, elbow to elbow with the hoardes of back to school shoppers taking advantage of a tax holiday, I found a cute little coping mechanism at a deep discount. The professional eater dog sleeps on the landing at the base of the stairs. The carpet is stained from the dirt she has invited in from outside, and no amount of shampooing is going to restore it fully at this point. Rather than replace all the carpet, I covered her spot with a rag rug. I think for seven dollars I can handle delaying the real solution to this problem.
Tonight I started a "craft project" to deal with more claw damage. By my count, ten different cats have literally left their marks on the cheap blanket chest I have been using long past the time it ceased being pretty. I started wrapping it in sisal rope, turning it into the scratching post it already was. Five or so loops around and I've learned a couple things. First, this is going to take a while to do properly, and second, staple guns were not designed for little artist hands like mine. Ow.
I do not remember the storage looking that torn up, but it has been a couple years since I have seen it. And Elsa, her face in that photo is priceless. Mostly because its her face, all the time.
ReplyDeleteThere have been 3 kittens go after it since you saw it last, and 2 of them are enormous cats now. And that poor dog was convinced that I was asking her to sit on the rug so she could get a food-related treat. She was wrong.
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