Saturday, May 12, 2007

Mother's Day Memories

I got this in a forwarded e-mail from a friend over at The Chenard Family Blog. (Thanks so much for the laugh, Lana!)

I thought I'd share it here:

"So, we had this great, 10-year-old cat named Jack who just recently died.

Jack was a good cat, and the kids would carry him around and sit on him and nothing ever bothered him. He used to hang out and nap all day long on a mat in our bathroom.

Well, we have three kids and at the time of this story they were 4, 3, and 1. The middle one is Eli. Eli really loves Chapstick. LOVES it. He kept asking to use my Chapstick and then would lose it. So finally one day I showed him where in the bathroom I kept my Chapstick and how he could use it whenever he wanted to, but he needed to put it right back in the drawer when he was done.

Last year on Mother's Day, we were having the typical rush around to try to get ready for church with everyone crying and carrying on. My two boys were fighting over the toy in the cereal box. I was trying to nurse my little one at the same time I was putting on my make-up. Everything was a mess, and everyone had long forgotten that this was a wonderful day to honor me and the amazing job that is motherhood.

We finally had the older one and the baby loaded in the car, and I was looking for Eli. I had searched everywhere, and I finally rounded the corner to go into the bathroom. And there was Eli. He was applying my Chapstick very carefully to Jack's . . . rear end.

Eli looked right into my eyes and said, "Chapped."

Now if you have a cat, you know that he was right -- their little butts do look pretty chapped. And, frankly, Jack didn't seem to mind.

The only question to really ask at that point was whether it was the FIRST time Eli had done that to the cat's behind or the hundredth.

And THAT is my favorite Mother's Day moment ever because it reminds us that no matter how hard we try to civilize these glorious little creatures, there will always be that day when you realize they've been using your Chapstick on the cat's behind."

1 comment:

rachel said...

oh my goodness! someone sent this to me too! hilarious! and gross! and THAT is why i do NOT share my chapstick. greg says i am stingy with my chapstick: "he's your SON!" he says. i buy francis his own chapstick and put a sticker on it so we know its his. for him. and HIS germs. hahaha
(ps. you've been very busy writing i see! good job. i'm having a harder time of it, but we'll see...)