Silent Sunday

Minxy Mog

How do you solve a problem like Sophie?

Cats choose don’t they, that is how they are.  Our ginger tabby Sophie is a rescue cat, we found her at Bath Cats and Dogs home aged 4 – they think, her coat was falling out in places and she was half starved, as we walked past she chirped her talkative meow and my other half was besotted.  Her brother was there too but as we already had a kitten – my Pippa, we only wanted one, I still wish we has taken him too…

When we got her home she was pleased to see our old dog Bouncer and they ignored each other beautifully from then on, Pippa was an abhorrence to her though, my 4 month old kitten charged about the place and tried to play with Sophie and she wore a mask of distaste on her face for ages.

Well, it’s 8 years on and Sophie has stayed with us, I always thought she might take up and leave one day as she is so independently minded.  As each baby arrived she took the screaming bundles in her big loping stride, usually out of the window.   Bouncer died and after looking for him and being unable to find him  she got on with it, who knows what she really thought but then a disaster shook her comfy little world – the world of both of the cats really, we came home with Poppy, a border collie puppy.

Poppy isn’t fitting into our world as well as we thought.  She chases the cats relentlessly, she knocks over the children, has eaten my kitchen units, for the first 9 months she chewed anything she could get in her mouth.  Turn your back and she will have the dinner off the table… I’m sure most of this is our fault, we thought Poppy would slot in where Bouncer left, of course she needs training and lots of walking, she was one last week and I must admit I despair, there is something every day – today she had one of my tops off the washing line..

And Sophie has left home.

She has “moved” 3 doors up the road to all intents and purposes, they have a covered porch by their back door and there is a cat basket on a cupboard for their own cats which she has purloined and the lady living there thinks she is marvelous and has been feeding her – why should she come home to this mad house?

It’s been about 2 months since I first requested that they don’t feed our cat and I think I have got there eventually, Sophie does come home for her supper albeit begrudgingly, once in she stays in overnight, they always have there are enough cat fights on this estate all night without our two joining in.  This week in the morning once the window is open, Pippa shot out as normal. Sophie has been sitting on the window sill for a bit and not rushing off. Progress? We shall see…

Has anyone else had this problem? Any advice?

Things that go bump in the night

Rolling over in bed last night, I woke up with a start when I met with someone on my left side that wasn’t a cat, (bad habit but Pippy often curls up in my left arm, she was my first baby). The beloved daughter had got into bed next to me while I was asleep, this is unusual for her, if she wakes in the night she normally will shake me until I wake, that’s if the fact she is moving about doesn’t trigger that “Mummyalert” I seem to have built in.

Looking at my clock it said 1.42am – groan, “what’s up” said I, “I can’t sleep” said she. Right, back to bed for her, she got back in her own bed snuggled down with teddy and was asleep within a minute, bless.

It got me thinking about the sleep deprivation thing though, from about 4 months pregnant with her I had terrible trouble sleeping. I moved into the then spare room because I was competing with the husband for fog horn of the year. The there was the running back and forth from the bathroom due to lack of bladder space. Also the trying to get through the working day with so little sleep.  Pregnancy with my son had all that plus the most colourful and exciting dreams ( I miss those!).  It was all preparation for the marathon of breast on demand really wasn’t it…

My husband didn’t ever do night feeds, yep, I could have expressed like the best but firstly it would have been me shaking him awake for an hour to get up and do it – pointless exercise. Secondly, he drives for most of the 13 – 15 hours he’s at work every day and I do need him to come home in one piece: so that was that. Thirdly and on reflection only, I don’t think I would have wanted to miss all those small wee hours of the night snuggling my little bundle of joy (s), now they both seem so huge and you can never get it back, it didn’t last long enough.

Actually, off topic for a second, I wish I could go back to when my daughter was a newborn, I was in such a frenzy of the unknown I was too scared to make the most of that time. While the time machine is here, 1996 was a very fine year.

My two generally sleep well, the little miss likes her structured evening routine 7.15pm jimjammin, bed, story, 3 songs, cd player on, night light – she plays for a while up there sometimes and we do get the odd visit downstairs.  He is sooo different, he has always been a sensory deprivation baby, no music, no light, if there is any kind of “entertainment”  he won’t sleep. He has never slept in his buggy or car seat  for this reason.  He gets a bed time song and a cuddle, into bed and asleep.  Sometimes I here him cooing to his teddy, but not often.  Yes, mostly they do sleep though until at least 5am, but I don’t – which brings us back to the “mummyalert”

I once read about a mother who slept through a huge earthquake only to wake at the end of it because her baby started crying.  It’s so like that isn’t it.  As I said before, my husband is rather loud in the snoring department and sometimes he does wake me but mostly he doesn’t. Pippa cat is up and down like a yoyo at night, I think she is an undercover Secret Agent Cat because she keeps a watch out the windows at various times – I am not disturbed by this much, my son talking or whimpering in his sleep in the next room will wake me every time! Bing! Awake!

After her early morning ramble she slept through until 7.30am, how pleasant! The hubster got up at 5.30am: a lie in for him and the son was shouting “Mummy” at 7am, all in all not a bad start to the day.