| Update, Baby V. Cat |
The Wed. comic is now up. Don't miss Friday's conclusion to the storyline.
Baby Wright is starting to test his boundaries, it seems. He has taken to swatting at the cats. It started innocently enough as what appeared to be an attempt to pet the kitties many months ago. However, in his excitement, the petting became swats to the cats' heads. We directed him away from the cats, sometimes taking his hand and showing him the "correct" way to pet. However, he would just get excited and swat again. Our older female cat, Sweetie, loves any attention she gets, so she takes the abuse for a bit before running away. Our younger cat, Charlie, who is also known as Jerk Cat and Charlie Monster for his propensity to torment Sweetie, is a bit less tolerant of Baby. He kinda' looks at us as if to roll his eyes and say, "Hey, you do something with this kid, or I will."
Baby's swatting has now progressed to include pulling tails. To make matters worse, he knows he shouldn't be doing it. How do I know that he knows? Here's an example of what happens:
Baby runs to Charlie Cat with hands outstretched.
Daddy (from across the room): "No...."
Baby turns, looks at daddy, smiles, swats cat.
Daddy (still across the room) "No... (and then with as much enthusiasm as daddy can muster) hey, where's the ball? Ball? Ball? Where's the ball?"
Baby (not falling for the misdirection - daddy apparently didn't sell it enough) swats cat again. Cat's ears are pinned to his head as he swats back.
Daddy then bolts across the room to get Baby. Baby sees this, gets SUPER hyper (mouth open wide and smiling and laughing), and begins to swat cat faster and faster, in attempt to get in as many swats as possible before Daddy can reach him.
Well, Charlie ran out of patience today, grazing Baby's arm which required Mommy to break out the boo-boo kit. Still, Baby continued to go after both cats later in the evening. I'm fairly certain he is not intending to harm the cats. He is only 14 months old and an otherwise good baby. He seems to think they are playing a game of "Grab the Tail and Smack the Head (New, from Hasbro)".
I'm not sure what to do to resolve the issue. I don't want to overreact, especially when everything I've read says a baby his age doesn't understand consequences yet, so punishment has an adverse effect. Yet, we don't want him to torment the cats or to get hurt.
So, if any of you parents out there have any advice, feel free to email me or post a comment back.Labels: baby stuff, todd and penguin |
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| 3 Comments: |
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To be honest, with both of my older kids (and I'm sure for the youngest as well one day) they had many a scratch before learning how to act around kitty. Not that our cat wants to be mean to the ones who give him treats, but he can only take so many head shots...
Keep re-directing when you can, or find a toy that your little guy can play with your cat, like a wand toy or give him a long piece of yarn to let the cat chase after. It'll pass as they both figure out how to deal with each other.
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I'm not a parent, but I helped raise my little sisters, as well as babysitting for numberless kids. To be honest, I'd say, let the cat scratch the kid. I know it sounds awful, but in Jamaica, they have a saying "The burnt child shuns the fire". You've tried to keep the kid from hitting the cat, he refuses to listen, now its time to let him learn that actions have consequences. At 14 months, he's old enough to start getting this idea. He'll get a little scratch and a big shock, and a lesson in how cats like to be treated.
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I would echo anonymous, with a twinge of regret. We have a cat who was, it seems, born skittish, so our boys haven't really been able to get close enough to give it any REALLY good torment ;)
But yes, I am also of the mind that experience is the best teacher. You can only hope that he doesn't grow up with some debilitating feline phobia after the cat goes ballistic on him.
(I jest...)
Incidentally, the passage "Baby sees this, gets SUPER hyper (mouth open wide and smiling and laughing), and begins to swat cat faster and faster, in attempt to get in as many swats as possible before Daddy can reach him." struck SUCH a chord. Our youngest (just turned two on Twosday) is the master of this.
Whether it's pouring liquid somewhere, or evacuating the toothpaste tube, as soon as you tell him, "No, I need you to stop that!" he grins and redoubles his efforts.
We can generally make the point by picking him up, looking straight in his eyes, and VERY sternly (almost shouting) saying "NO."
At that point, his whole little world is shattered and he cries like.. well.. like a baby for a few minutes, recovers completely, and moves on. But at that point we know he's understood we're not playing around.
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Name: Blogger Dad
Home: Florida, United States
About Me: I was a reporter at a Florida newspaper, where I covered city politics and draw editorial comics. Now, I'm a Blogger Dad (click the link for my webpage - the blog on the bottom is for Todd and Penguin) in search of a job and attempting to write a book or four.
I'm also a cartoonist, how most of you know me, who draws Todd and Penguin, Taking Up Space and the occasional other titles, featured on KeenSpot.com.
I'm married (sorry, all you ladies interested in overweight guys who spend too much time drawing) and have a one year old son and two cats. Three of the above mentioned poop way too much!
See my profile...
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posted by Blogger Dad at 
To be honest, with both of my older kids (and I'm sure for the youngest as well one day) they had many a scratch before learning how to act around kitty. Not that our cat wants to be mean to the ones who give him treats, but he can only take so many head shots...
Keep re-directing when you can, or find a toy that your little guy can play with your cat, like a wand toy or give him a long piece of yarn to let the cat chase after. It'll pass as they both figure out how to deal with each other.