New Parents

Alright, so now that we have been in the same place for more than a week, we got a little restless. I love animals and started pushing for a pet. My husband, on the other hand, is more realistic and knows that we aren’t going to be living here long enough to commit to an animal. So, happy compromise: we became a foster family for a local animal shelter. We decided that we should help out with a straight forward case, as we were going to be new at this parenting business.
Well, if you know us, we tend to not take small steps. We saw this mom and baby couple, sniffling away in their contamination-room cage, which had a beautiful view of a huge German Sheppard. “We’ll take those two.”
So we get home in one piece and plop the animals down in the spare bedroom. The cats were fantastic! The little 7 week-old baby (Molly) started eating and playing right away. Momma cat (Mary) purred and rubbed against us. She kept rubbing, rolling around on the floor, rubbing, rubbing….We thought “is she super itchy?” Then we hear “MEEEEOOWWW!!!” Nope, not itchy – she’s in heat.
So, picture our first night. We have terrible scream-like meows coming from all rooms in the apartment keeping us (and probably all the neighbors) wide awake. I had no idea how to calm her, tried everything from distracting her with toys to reasoning with her over the logistics of the request. We also have a terribly cute kitten trying to cuddle up in bed (between us), but is sneezing every 20 seconds – including in our faces.
I struggle with patience and over the last while I’ve been praying for more. Well, did I honestly think that I would receive some in the mail? Nope, I was blessed with this opportunity to gain some.
So, all night, whenever Mary started screaming, I got out of bed and tried to reason with her. Talking tended to calm her down a bit. Whenever the kitten started to sound super congested I would switch her position to ease the pressure on her lungs. But, although my patience got a good exercise, my energy started to run low. I would nudge my husband to get out of bed and help whenever Mary started screaming and I no longer have the energy to content with it. After my poor husband of endless patients returned from carrying out the ridiculous requested task of talking to the strange in-heat cat, he would return to bed and hear “Make sure you don’t squish the kitten!”
Come morning we were exhausted! Molly was sure to pounce on us when she thought the day should start. So all three of us hung out in bed for a bit, Molly separating us and ensuring we had no time for each other. We laid there until Mary started screaming again, ensuring we had no energy for each other.

I looked at my husband and asked “is this how it is when you have kids?”
He answered “I think we will wait to find out.”

We will always be home.

It’s morning and we walk out the backdoor of the apartment. The Mazda awaits its journey into the city. She sits, blanketed with oranges and yellows that fell from the maple above. We drive, in awe of the city around us. Auto routes bustle. Parking lots packed. Signs with unknown cautions. Almost a rip in our map.

The boxes are gone as well as the happenings of our first month of marriage; the view in Toronto, the beaches of Mexico, the goodbyes in Winnipeg, the snowstorms of Ontario, the hospitality of Ottawa, the wonder of Montreal, the comfort of #4 Maple.

We are home. Actually, we have always been home, but now we have walls surrounding an area that is ours. A place to learn, a place to grow, a place to meet up after the hustle of the day is over and our real day begins. Over time the apartment number will change, the city lights will change, the type of currency will change - but we will always be home.

Here is to day thirty-one.

Testing, testing,...1...2...

Its amazing what your friends can talk you in to.