Old Ladies and Their Animals

Not really anything inspirational to say today, other than some rather lovely observations - the things you see when you actually take time to look!

And today it was "Pets."

I grew up surrounded by lots of pets. We always had dog, cat, shed full of finches, aquariums, canaries, rabbits, hamsters etc. And I'm very aware that my kids don't have the same experiences. They'd love to, but circumstances just don't make it work:

Firstly, we go overseas to visit relatives back in UK every year as well as an occasional holiday or camping trip. It just wouldn't be fair on the poor things to be put in kennels for all that time (especially for a dog - as I frequently point out to my eldest.) We have no family over here who could look after them and it seems a bit unfair to be constantly asking friends...especially if we still want them to be friends!

Secondly, and probably most importantly, I'm very allergic to pet hair now. Never was as a kid, but as I've got older the allergies have just skyrocketed. Especially with cat hair. Currently trying a course of immunotherapy injections, so maybe things will ease. We'll see.

We did get pet mice, but one died after about 3 months and the other one stinks and hides whenever the kids get near it!

Anyway, as I was out having an early evening power walk yesterday, (oh, so proud to  point out  that I did actually get off my arse!) I couldn't help notice the number of old people, no old ladies, who were out with their pets.

In the half hour I was out, I saw 5 old ladies (4 of them smiled at me!) and 5 pets.

What was so funny was that 4 of the 5 had dogs with them that resembled them in some way: either the colour of their fur/coat (see photo above!), the curliness of the fur/hair or the way they walked - seriously. Two of the little dogs were so hunched over, like their owners and were hobbling along/being dragged. One of them walked 10 paces or so, paused to get its breath and then shuffled on again...as did its owner.

It was so gorgeous - I'm definitely on 'dog watch' when I next venture out for a walk.

And what about the 5th old lady? Well she was sitting on her drive in her wheelchair, just soaking up the last of the evening light and saying hello to whoever strolled   power walked by. She was so sweet, clearly just wanting a bit of company. I'd love to get an Aussie-pseudo-gran for my kids.

And the final pet I saw?

Two beautiful tabby cats curled up on the doormat of their house, clearly waiting patiently for their owners to get back from work. I envisaged the fuss they'd make when they heard the car pull into the drive and how they'd rub against the owners legs, miaowing happily.

I wanted to put the lonely old lady and the two lonely cats together.

I'd love to have an adoptive cat that visited me when I needed company, but didn't depend on me in case I went away. I'm sure my kids would like that too.

There's a certain warmth, companionship and sense of the familial about owning  a pet. There should be a 'rent-a-pet' or 'pet-share' for the elderly or people like us, who just can't have one themselves.

And that's my observation for today!

Slipping Through My Fingers

"Schoolbag in hand, she leaves home in the early morning 

Waving goodbye with an absent-minded smile 

I watch her go with a surge of that well known sadness 

And I have to sit down for a while 

Slipping through my fingers all the time...."

My girls were aged about 1 and 3 when I first heard these lyrics - and I just couldn't stop the tears from flowing!
Hearing the song today, still causes my eyes to sting and I have to fight the urge to 'just have a good cry!'
I challenge any mother of a young girl to watch this clip and not feel emotional...

So it happened around 7 years ago. I'd decided that I deserved a break from 'just being a mum at home.' I needed a bit of 'me' time and  get out of the house, so I'd taken to going to the cheap night at the local cinema by myself while my man babysat the girls, aged about 2 and 6 months. Mamma Mia was one of those films he had absolutely no desire to watch whatsoever, and I love a good old musical.

I was happily chain-eating my over-sized carton of popcorn, thoroughly enjoying myself, when this song came on as Meryl prepares her daughter for her impending hen's night. I stopped, popcorn in hand and the emotion just flooded out of me. What a sight, a grown woman, sitting alone in a dark cinema, tears rolling down her face!

I guess I hadn't thought far ahead enough to contemplate the day that my little girls would be leaving me, showing their first vestiges of independence, no longer totally reliant on me. I certainly wasn't ready for it.

Anyone who has a baby or toddler can't really envisage their child being independent enough to go off to school and certainly not leaving home to start a 'grown-up' life of their own.

Well,  I had another 'emotional moment,' and had to swallow the lump in my throat this weekend. I found myself casting my mind back to 7 years ago and me, crying in the dark cinema.

I'd just sent my daughters, now 7 and 9 into BigW with a $10 to pick out a birthday card for a friend. "Make sure you check the change," I'd called after them. I turned round to pay for the coffee I'd just ordered from the mall coffee cart, glanced back over my shoulder, saw them entering the store, hand in hand, and  hesitated...should I go after them? 

What was I doing letting them go off on their own?

They looked so big and confident.....and yet still so little. Still my babies. Such good girls. Horrific scenes of them getting lost, being spoken to by strangers, falling and cutting open their heads, flittered through my mind...but no! I have to let go sometime - and that time was now.

I waited so anxiously for their return, it felt like forever. But sure enough, they came out of the store all smiles. They'd chosen a lovely card.

"I got the right money back," my eldest informed me, (oh, so grown up,) 

"Mum, can I keep some of the change to buy lollies?" (Boom! and there she is, my little girl again!)

I had to smile to myself.

I learned a lot from this day. They ARE growing up, I do have to let go, they need me to. But, as I keep telling them.... they'll always be my little girls.

And they're not slipping through my fingers, like sand in an hour glass. Their characters are being formed grain by grain, building them into the independent women I want them to be - confident in their individual sandcastles on the solid mother-daughter foundations we've made together.