Taxes are due tomorrow. I am off finalizing my numbers and hoping to find some additional deductions. Max and Bela offered to take over the blog for me this week. So grateful!
Mom has been grumpy for a bunch of weeks now. She keeps opening and slamming file cabinets, then getting up and going to different places, taking papers out and then putting them back. Seems a bit whacky. Each time she does one of these laps, we think she is up to get us some food, but no . . .. just more papers and more swearing.
The swearing itself isn’t all that bad – it’s the energy that is behind it. I don’t think she quite understands just how sensitive Bela’s startle reflex is. Mine, on the other hand, is the very definition of chill.
Still, when Mom swears and yells at the computer, it does concern both of us. She might forget to give us our evening Churu! And that WOULD be serious!
Managing Energy
Bela and I know how vital it is to have set routines. We have times for eating and times for rest. When these routines are interrupted or changed, it can play havoc with even the most unflappable of us.
Since felines are adept at masking our ‘flapp-ability’(by grooming parts of our body with grace and ease), you may not have ever observed this. Some of you may have occasioned to see this strategy aborted. This is when, with a passing of the paw over our ears followed by a flick of the tail, we take off in a turbo-charged romp into another room.
I am told (this is Max speaking), and have observed in other, younger cats, a certain wide-eyed, ears-back dissociative look that predicts a racing around the house, leaping on tall shelves or cat trees and then collapsing. I, myself, have never indulged in such silliness.
(Of course, dogs have none of this grace or elegance. They do, however, serve a purpose and some are actually quite friendly and nice.)
The Art of Cat Napping
Most importantly, we cats set aside plenty of time for napping. Napping is an essential strategy for not only managing our energy, but also managing humans. My goodness! The amount of energy humans expend in accomplishing absolutely nothing by worrying, fretting, pacing up and down, endlessly scrolling on the computer, and to what end?
Cats understand the value and necessity of just curling up and snoozing. This is when the body gets to recover and the mind gets to go on flights of fancy. Mom has said that for humans, this is not always the case. In fact, (and we both find this hard to believe), she told us that some humans have minds that only think of catastrophic outcomes! (At first, we thought this was a good thing, but then she told us that “catastrophic” didn’t mean all things having to do with cats, but was like having thoughts of being chased by dogs or having to sleep outside in the cold and wet! Sounds horrible!)
She told us about how folks are really worried right now because the world seems to be falling apart. She said people keep wanting to hurt one another and don’t seem to know how to stop.
Managing Differences
Humans need to learn how to manage their differences like Bela and I do. We understand that there is enough love and cat cuddles for all of us.
It took a little while, but we have trained Mom so that she remembers to put fresh water in our bowl, food in the food dish, she makes sure our litter box is clean, and gives us our Churu twice a day. We did this by rewarding her for her efforts with lots of purring, rubbing, and doing silly things that make her laugh.
I think she is almost done with her taxes. At least there isn’t a lot of drawer-slamming or swearing right now. Bela is in there with her napping. Bela is such a good role model! Maybe Mom will get the hint.
It’s time for my nap now, too! Sweet dreams!
2 responses to “Max and Bela Offer Tips on Managing Stress”
FAN-CATS-TIC!
Thanks for the laugh AND sage advice!