It's All My Fault

Back in October I asked Tom if he'd be willing to set aside his distaste of having pets and consider getting Alyssa a cat for her birthday.

Alyssa is an animal lover. She adores them. All of them. She wishes we lived on a large enough piece of property that we could have a horse. She desperately wants a dog. A kitten was the best I could do. I knew she would be thrilled to have a pet that was actually, truly hers.

He said okay, as long as it was understood that any pet we got would stay in the garage or outside.

I thought given time, he'd come around.

Well, he hasn't. He does not want that kitten in the house.

He's given in to the point that Orville is allowed to come in and play on the uncarpeted floor right inside the garage door. He can also be carried to the half-bath where Alyssa plays with him with the door closed.

For the past three days, no one has been happy. Well, wait. Olivia is happy because she can't quite sense the tension.

But Tom's miserable because there is a cat in the vicinity. Alyssa's sad because her pet, her birthday present isn't allowed to come in and sit on her lap while she watches tv.

And I'm sad because I shouldn't have pushed this. I shouldn't have asked Tom to do something I knew he didn't want to do. I shouldn't have put Alyssa in this position to feel like she's being denied something.

Last night I prayed hard. I prayed for a change of heart for Tom, that he can overcome his own disgust at the idea of a house pet. I also prayed that I can be a better mother and a better wife. I really do feel awful for putting them both in this position.

I also feel bad for that little kittne who is forced to stay in the cold garage. Yes, he has a carrier with several blankets and he has a girl who goes out there quite often and brings him just inside the door. But this isn't what I wanted for any of us.

I wanted to make a little girl happy, to give a shelter cat a home. I never imagined that we'd all be so unhappy with this siutation. And now I have to figure out how to get us out of it since I'm the one who created it.