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Monday, July 26, 2010

The Meow Took It

Even as a toddler, Little Boy was gentle with animals. Being so animal-like himself back then, he might have felt some affinity for the fur balls we often fed at the foot of our HDB flat - mostly cats. There was one particular cat who followed me home one day, and after we fed her a dish of cold milk at our door, she often dropped by for a visit. We would feed her whenever she came by.

She was an odd little thing... very well-mannered. I very much appreciated that she never once tried to come into our flat. Instead, after eating, she would sit at the door and look at Little Boy play. Once or twice, she refused food and drink, but still sat there at our door. I wondered if she was looking at my little cub, and missing her own.

Anyway, she afforded me the best excuse in the world... something that even Sun Tzu himself could not have invented.

"The Meow took it."

"The Meow ate it."

"The Meow drank it."

"Maybe... it's the meow."

Everytime we removed a dangerous play thing when Little Boy's back was turned, we blamed it on The Meow. Everytime we took away some delicious but unhealthy snack when Little Boy's back was turned, we blamed it on The Meow. Or if someone had accidentally knocked down the precarious tower... oops! Maybe it's The Meow.

If anyone else bigger and stronger were to admit to all the above misdemeanours, we knew that Little Boy would instantly turn into a furious wolfling - all teeth and snarl... but against The Meow, he could say nothing. I rather suspect that if The Meow had appeared earlier in our lives, I could have prevented the awful tantrum by simply saying "The Meow ran off with your bottle of ice cold milk to feed her kittens".

It was the most wonderful wonderful way of avoiding a head-on collision with Little Boy... and a most wonderful way of teaching him that getting angry doesn't get him anywhere.

Now that he is quite the civilized human being, we like to tease him about The Meow.

11 comments:

Wen-ai said...

Haha... and Little Boy totally accepted that "Meow" was the naughty one? Very clever tactic!

Open Kitchen Concept said...

Even though I'm actually terrified of cats.. Awwww.. this is a really sweet story of a really sweet boy!

Petunia Lee said...

Wen-ai, yup! Very clever! My mom-in-law invented this great excuse. She's a smart ol' lady.

Petunia Lee said...

OKC - Yes I do think he is very sweet-natured, my boy. I keep praying that he will marry a kind-hearted girl who won't scratch his heart to bits.

Blur Ting said...

Oh dear. The sweet Meow took the blame for everything :-)

Blur Ting said...

Petunia - I saw your reply to OKC and can't help thinking about my niece Ting. She's so compassionate and considerate, I worry about her sometimes. I hope she will marry a really sweet guy who will never bully her.

Petunia Lee said...

Ting - Hey! Your niece has your name and is like you!! I wouldn't worry about her though... she has an aunt to protect her.

And yes... we laid every single one of our sins on the poor Meow's head.... Hee!

Fresh Fry aka 福星 said...

AWWWWWWWWW........*MAJOR MELT*

but poor cat it is. then again, could be your guardian angel to save u more misery in early motherhood. hehehe......

more kiddy + Milo stories! more!!

Malar said...

poor meow!
Your boy is really an animal lover! He has a kind heart!

Petunia Lee said...

Fry - Angel in cat form? Hmmmm... that's thought!!

Petunia Lee said...

Malar - Yes, he does love animals and all sorts of small things, no matter how ugly.