Thought for today: Nourish the nurturing side of your child . . . It’s early morning and I walk into my 12-year-old son’s bedroom and there he is petting Colt’s black and white coat. He tells me that she climbed up on his bed.

gus holds cat our yard  He’s looking at his new tuxedo kitten on his bed with such tenderness. “She was wild at first but then I petted her and she calmed right down.”

I go over to pet the kitten as well.

A few moments later, my son hops off of his bed and looks into the litter box announcing that Colt used it for the first time. He cheerfully scoops it up with his new scooper from the local Pet Healthy store.

My son opens the door to his bedroom to let Colt out. His kitten is unsure. It’s her first morning in our home.

Augustin picks his kitty up and says, “Don’t worry, I’ve got you.”

He cradles Colt and walks her over to where he has set up her food and water station. He places his 8-week old, just-weaned kitten by her kibbles and water. Colt chooses water first, lapping up the cold stuff.

“Ah she’s thirsty,” Gus says. He watches her as she laps up the drink. “I try to keep that full; she’s thirsty as heck.”

bronwyn and kids cat  I pick up my shoes and drop them on the linoleum and Colt is startled. “Mom, you’re scaring her,” he warns me, turning immediately back toward Colt. “How you doing kitty?” he tilts his head as he talks to Colt.

When she finishes eating and drinking, the kitten begins scratching the back of the couch, and my son gently moves her away, warning, “no scratch.”

kolberg kittens three kids  Colt walks away meowing again, and my son once again picks her up and says, “It’s ok, I’ve got you.”

A little bit later we bring Colt over to my sister’s house in Beaverton to see Colt’s brother, for what my niece calls a “play date.” My niece is the one who told me about the kittens–they got Colt’s brother Kirby from some mutual friends. It was fun to  see Colt interact with Kirby, who was much more wild. I think Gus is glad that Colt is relatively calm,  compared with his cousin’s kitten.

As we drove home from my sister’s, my Gus called his friend, our neighbor, Karver, who’s 11, to come over for a “surprise.”

Karver gus play with kitten  Gus met his friend at the door with Colt in his arms.  Karver asked all excited: “You got a kitten, wow, it’s black and white like mine. When did you get her?”

My son tells his friend the story and shows him the kitty food.

“We have to mix the old food with the new food so she gets used to it,” Gus explains.

Then Gus was showing Karver how Colt can chase a string, and when she was startled from the noise I was making (again), Gus says, “Mom you’re scaring him.”

Gus cradles and pets his new kitty again as she falls asleep in his arms.

Colt is home.

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Today’s thought on parenting: Provide opportunities for them to be nurturing.

Day 22: We are Desperate for God

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