Once you understnad that, everything starts to make sense. And if you don’t understand that, you will become crazy and old before your time.

Animals are beautiful, fascinating, wonderful, astonishing. But they are never cute. My cat is not a little person I can lavish affection on, it is another life form, forever alien and incomprehensible. That is why I appreciate it and keep it. It is always unexpected and strange. And it is why I don’t like dogs, which are notorious ass kissers and boot lickers, always fawning and eager to please. They lack dignity. And they smell.

My relationship with my cat is one of appreciation and respect. How it feels about me is something I can speculate about, but which I have no way of verifying or investigating. To do so would be to put human attibutes on an animal that simply doesn’t have them. But it is a cat, I don’t demand that it love me, or obey me. It is an independent creature with its own agenda, and it is entitled to that.

Does this mean I am not fond of my cat, that I don’t love it? Of course not. When my last cat, the Mighty Cracker, died, I wept. I probably will when Echo goes too, if she doesn’t outlive me. But my feelings toward them do not demand that they reciprocate them.

Of this I know.

It is what it is. You are who you are.

It is all about what I have to do.

I think she’s just learned how to act when she wants me to give her something.

I won’t say anything about kids. I don’t have any so my opinions don’t mean squat. And people who do have them all think they’re experts at raising them, no matter how horrid the little monsters are turning out.

But I used to be a kid, and I remember it very well.

I find it next to impossible to even discipline my granddaughter.
However, with that, I truly try teach her what is for her own good. Not some stupid immaturity, like I am having a bad day so I take it out on her. It is an amazing feeling, to put someone/something before yourself.
Adults? eh…not so much.