Hello! Welcome to our home! We’ve got kids, dogs, and cats. You are able to interact with each species, but beware of the children; they are prone to biting, hitting, and screaming when provoked.
I think I’m going to get this sign made for our front door. Or in short terms “Welcome to the zoo!”
Now, we didn’t literally “buy a zoo” like that super cute movie with Matt Damon, but if you’ve ever visited our home, you know that it’s not far off! We started off small, 1 cat and a baby. We decided to expand with a dog. No big deal, right? We felt brave, added a kid and felt like another dog wouldn’t be much harder. About a week or 2 after bringing a puppy into the mix, SURPRISE- I’m pregnant! 3 kids under 5, 2 dogs and a cat wasn’t TOO bad. So, along came the last 2 legged beast and not long after another 4 legged furry feline and VIOLA- there you have our zoo.
Anyone with babies or animals know that every day is an adventure. Although these delightful mammals bring us more joy than we can begin to explain, they also bring about extreme anxiety, frustration and fatigue.
When it comes to the animals (the 4 legged ones) they’re *usually* well behaved. The little dog, while super cute and cuddly, he’s the culprit of many “accidents” on the carpet, which will need replaced rather soon- not expensive or anything, no worries. The bigger dog has more minor incidents including eating whole loafs of bread, shoes, and favorite toys. I thought maybe with age (Charlie-10, Callie-6) these problems would subside but, JOKES ON ME! The cats are a little better, just an occasional hairball here or there, the kitten torturing the 14 year old cat, and messy liter boxes that nobody likes to help clean. Oh, and did I mention one has allergies and sneezes everywhere? But man, do we love them. They may be minor nuisances, but guess what, when I’m upset and feel like my family just doesn’t care, I know my pets will always give me love- no matter what.
Now for the humans. Whew- where to begin with them. Since the moment they were conceived, they’ve taken over my body, our space, time, and our wallets. They can turn a room into ground zero in .5 seconds, and make a bigger mess than hurricane Katrina in no time. I’ll save the long stories for another post, but Aislyn (6) one time ruined all of my makeup in 5 minutes and had to be put into a big girl bed after several “poop incidents” in her crib at 13 months old.
And that’s just 1 kid! Get the 4 of them together, you can only imagine. And even when they don’t mean to make messes, they do! Toothpaste all over the sink, food all over the table after dinner, pee on the bathroom floor, clothes EVERYWHERE… the list goes on and on and on and you get the rest. Candles are our favorite and I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had to google “How to clean ____ off of ____.”
So as you can see, we really do live in a zoo. And I know many of you can relate. You may call your home a farm, or maybe even a shelter. Whether you have lots of furry friends and no kids, or 1 new baby and no animals, things are bound to be wild most of the time! And I don’t know about you, but I wouldn’t want to live life any other way!
Okay, maybe I’d do without the poopy messes, but that’s it!
Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to update my resume: Zookeeper 2008-present
The Meltdown Mama 