Surely I didn't hear you right!

You know how kids have the ability to make you think that you've completely lost one or more of your senses? (or is it just your minds way of protecting you from unbelievable atrocities?) We've had one of those moments.



The other evening I was putting the last touches on dinner. I hear Jeremy inquire, innocently enough, of Amelia, what she is eating. She does this cute little spin in an effort to dazzle him with her beauty and make him forget what he asked and says "Nothing!". Being a member of the same gender who on rare occasion has had to resort to the use of such devious tactics, I recognized her deception immediately... I had to go straight for the jugglar.... Open your mouth, Amelia.... hmmm... looks like.... peanut butter? Even now, I look back on this moment in time and I wish I'd left it alone or that they'd had the conversation in another room. Amelia then hunkers down and slips into what was surely her emergency plan in dealing with parents who are hot on your trail. Refusal to fess up with a side order of tears. I'll admit, at this point my curiousity was piqued. There was NO way we were going on with our evening until I knew what she had eaten. My mind was spinning.... obviously something she doesn't want us to know about.... did she help herself to something in the cabinet? Can't be. I've been cooking. Did she find a dried up bean under the table? Maybe. Is she part squirrel and has stored "nuts" in her room? Possibly.



My feeble mind was not prepared for the single word that she uttered in a defeated shaky voice.....

"cat."

WHAT?

"cat."

Now, I'll admit, I had NO idea what she was trying to say. Is she lying? She didn't eat the cat, right? The cat is tan....

As our neurons began to regroup and work their synapses in a manner that was intelligible, we began to develop a possibility....cat food? It just didn't seem right. She is our little chef. She can walk into a room and tell me what spices I'm using for dinner. Why would she CHOOSE to eat something that is made with meat "by-products??"

We had her lead us to the scene of the crime. It was indeed cat food. For final proof, my ever brave husband smelled her breath (lest she trick us into believing that the mystery stuff was ONLY cat food).... It was. So how do I feel now? Relieved? Queasy? Guilt over all the times I ignored my cat's efforts to tell on her as she lured me to her dish to show it to me?



Hmmm... Cat food. Unbelievable.