Unpublished Parenting Advice of the Week

I mean this in the most loving way:  In the scenario of having two or more kids, their behavior tends to mimick the family cat's, in that once the kids reach a certain age, they become territorial. 

And while we are on the subject of cats, particularly kittens, I will commence to the disclosure of this weeks' Unpublished Parenting:

About two weeks ago, on a whim, I adopted a 7 week-old kitten and named him Finn.  I brought him home to Kody, Kyleigh, and Joshua, who were happy to put a halt to their chore of hauling wood to the house for the stove, in order to play with and coo over our new kitten.  There is just something about kittens.

Naturally, when Hannah and Chloe awoke from napping, they, too wanted to play with and coo over Finn.  Therein lies the problem presented, and the lesson learned.  As a seasoned mother of five, I was "fully" prepared for whatever scenario presented to me by the introduction of the new family pet.  I was ready for the girls to receive a few minor scratches on their wrists.  Ready for extra cleaning of the litterbox.  Totally prepared for the girls to fight over who would get to hold Finn, carry Finn, play with Finn...

...until I heard, for the very first time, the sound of a kitten being quartered.  I was faced with the same battle each and every day:  Chloe carting Finn around in a chokehold, pronouncing her love for the "kiy kat", Hannah screaming, curly locks as wild as the expression on her face as she attempted to pull Finn away from her evil twin sister using any appendage she could possibly get her little hands on--fur definitely counts as an appendage here.  Finn, as wide-eyed and horrified as any kitty can be, his very short life flashing before his eyes as Hannah pries and Chloe pulls, and tendons stretch and cartilage is pushed to the limit of its flexibility.  Someone will inherently come to the rescue, sparing his life while scolding the twins, but not too much time had passed by before I realized this scenario was playing out at least a half dozen times per day.

And the lesson to be learned from all of this?  When faced with the scenario of a near-quartered kitten, and the certainty that the issue is not going to resolve itself until said kitten is literally in pieces of equal size, get another kitten.  It's what we did. Don't judge me until you hear the alternatives:  Don't have twins, don't have two kids in the same age proximity, get rid of the first kitten (mutiny), continue to wait out the certain doom of kitty number 1. 

On a side note:  I believe anyone who has never given birth should examine my attempt to rescue Chloe from the conundrums she finds herself in by trying to fit into her Baby Alive doll's clothing.  Most of the time, rescuing her from this type of situation involves pushing her head down a little in order to move her shoulder out of the way, reaching inside the collar of the shirt or onesie and grabbing her by the chin, slowly turning her head and arm as I gently guide the reast of her torso out of the fabric that would fit my chihuahua.  I call it shirt birth.