I do not have human children of my own, but from my many years of babysitting I can safely say that trying to get ready with Franklin around is like trying to get ready with a very clingy three-year-old. And in this photo, for example, he is laying on my foot, trying to stop me and my doggy Christmas PJs from getting ready and going to work. What you don't get from this picture is the very loud meowing of Please don't leave me! Stay home! Don't go, Meemaw. DON'T GO!!!
~And yes, I don't believe I have mentioned it before but I am Meemaw to the boys. John is Pop-pop.~
There is no end to the clinginess. If I close the door, Franklin cries because he wants in. If I put clothes on the bed, Franklin cries because I won’t let him nibble on them. If I brush my teeth, Franklin cries because I have something in my mouth and he doesn’t. If I try to walk from one room to the other, Franklin cries because I am not giving him attention (and I probably stepped or kicked him on accident since he loves to stand right where my foot needs to be. Franklin is fine though, don’t worry. No kittens were hurt in the making of this blog!).
In order to combat Franklin’s constant need for attention, I have come up with a few ways to distract him, which are all toy related- because at this point he’s already eaten and food does not distract him for as long as you’d think it would. Franklin loves the light golf balls that John bought to putt with in the apartment, so my usual go-to distraction is rolling one by Franklin. He tends to immediately chase! And as soon as he does I take advantage of the little time I have to change or brush my teeth or do whatever is needed to be done.
If the golf ball doesn’t work, or doesn’t work for long, Franklin has a little cylindrical bouncy toy that he loves to bat around with his paws, so if I can find that one (Franklin tends to push it under the couch and leave it there) I’ll toss that one and he’ll bounce after it. Then I’ll try his little red mouse, which he also loves to bat around, but that one also tends to get lost frequently under the couch.
The toy that keeps Franklin distracted the longest (and never gets batted under the couch!) is his cat teaser, which I hold and he goes nuts for the plastic tail that bobs around and has fun feathers on the end to catch and chomp on. Only problem is: the cat teaser requires me to hold it with one hand, and most everything I do other than the act of brushing my teeth requires two hands. So sometimes I’ll throw the teaser on the ground and he’ll go after it, but not for long. Most of the time, if I’m wearing jeans, I can slip the handhold through my belt loop and sway my hips, and that gives Franklin just enough movement to keep him occupied while I finish getting dressed and wash my face.
It is definitely not easy to keep a kitten entertained, especially a smart one who knows that day time teeth brushing equals leaving him behind in the apartment. And it doesn’t matter that Kap and John are with him all day long, as John works from home and Kap is an indoor cat. No, if Meemaw is trying to leave for work, Franklin must scream to the whole world that I am leaving him and will try to do everything in his power to distract me and keep me from leaving.
As much as I love his tiny body, which is so easy to pick up when he’s being naughty or I just want to give his face all the good kisses, I am very much ready for him to mature so that he just chills and doesn’t freak out when I get ready to leave- just like big brother Kap.
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