Minnie and Belle

Last week Maya and I went to Petco to get Jasmine and Simba (our cats) a new litter box. While in the store, Maya asked if we could see all the animals--her favorite part of going to Petco. I said sure. When we went back to the cat adoption area that's run by a local animal shelter, we saw 2 of the cutest kittens I'd ever seen. They were black and white and just adorable. Maya desperately wanted to take them home. I said we couldn't just take cats home. We've already got two of them. Except, I was thinking that I would have loved to take them home. Naturally she told Austin all about them. (It is worth noting that Austin is an absolute cat lover ... he's always talked about wanting more cats, especially kittens.) The kids chatted on and on about how much they'd love to have kittens and how cute the ones in the store were. Austin hadn't even seen them, but was sure Maya was right and pleaded along with her.

Meanwhile, unbeknownst to the kids, I was talking to Tim about how fun it would be to get kittens. The kids are at a good age for it--old enough to know how to treat them and take care of them without doing the things that Austin did as a baby (pulling tails and fur, chasing, etc.). We know that we'll never be able to surprise the kids at Christmas with a puppy in a box because Austin's too allergic to dogs. He's also allergic to cats, but doesn't seem to react to them much. Besides, I would want our next cats to be indoor / outdoor, so they wouldn't even be in the house all the time. Tim wasn't as sure as I was. (read: Tim didn't like the idea) But after some more talking and thinking about it, we figured we might as well go for it. So, the kids and I went to Petco to get the 2 kittens.

Except that the animal shelter doesn't do same-day adoptions. And there had been other people who had filled out the paperwork for the same two adorable black and white 10-week old kittens. The representative from the shelter didn't seem keen on the idea that we wanted them to be indoor / outdoor or that we already had two cats. She told me that if we didn't hear from them in 48 hours, we should figure that we weren't the family chosen for the kittens. OK. No problem.

No phone call. No kittens. I had already told the kids that we might not get them ... and if we weren't the family chosen for them, then there was probably a good reason that we just weren't aware of. Maybe they wouldn't get along with Jasmine and Simba, maybe they wouldn't like being outside, maybe they wouldn't be snuggly cats like we'd want ... who knows?!

Or, maybe a more ideal kitten scenario was just around the corner. We were at my in-laws' house and had told them about the Petco kittens and that we didn't seem to be the chosen family, etc. That's when my father-in-law told me that my mother-in-law's brother (and family) had kittens on their farm that were just old enough to be given to other families. Really?! And they basically live right next door ...

So, the kids and I went over that night and checked out the kittens. Very cute and playful. Their mom is the best cat they've ever had ... if these kittens have half of her sweet personality (or cat-ality) they'll be wonderful, they said. Sounds great to me!! We picked out the 2 we liked best and brought them home.

We're sticking with the Disney theme we have for naming our pets. The mostly black / tiger striped kitten is Minnie. She has white paws--like Minnie Mouse's gloves. :) And Belle has a lot of white fur with some of the tiger striping on her back. She looks like she's got eyeliner on with the dark lining around her eyes. Both are really cute, very snuggly, silly and playful. Just what we wanted.

Another example of the adage that things work out like they should ... I'm so glad that my kids have been able to see that for themselves.