In the Beginning...Part III

BUSY...Kittens are BUSY

                The first person in the bathroom each morning was greeted by four kittens attaching themselves to his/her pant leg.  It was quite common to be seen walking around the house with all of them swinging from clothing.   Denim was the only material thick enough to keep the dagger-sharp claws from breaking skin.  Once detached, the kittens would immediately climb and reattach until a suitable distraction showed up.  The best distraction was a jump rope.  My daughter (completely in her glory with so many new animals to care for) would slowly walk around the house with one end of the rope trailing behind and all the kittens latching on for a ride.  When this game got old, they’d play chase on the stairway until naptime. 

                Naps took place about 45 times a day.  There were three favorite sleep areas.  Sometimes they’d each pick a carpeted stair and we'd find all four little heads poking out the end of the stair steps, each one fast asleep one step higher than the next. They had discovered a tear in the cloth covering the bottom of our bed frame.  Many times we found them asleep in a pile hanging inside the frame using the cloth as a hammock.   Once the kittens were big enough to be mobile, Tigerlilly didn’t bother Radar anymore.  If he was already asleep, the kittens snuggled up to him and rested.  If Radar was still awake, he’d quickly move away, afraid Tigerlilly might revert to her protective stance. 

                When awake, the kittens were everywhere, like ants at a picnic—in and out and on top of cupboards, under furniture, on the chair I was about to sit on.  I swear I even heard them go down the laundry chute a few times.  We only had them for a couple of months and it was absolutely exhausting, but it was also endlessly entertaining.  (to be continued)