The Bad Guy

I am The Bad Guy in our household.  Hubby certainly does his share of discipline, but between the two of us, there is no question that I am the stricter parent.  In so many things, there is no option to let things slide.  When siblings are fighting, children are pushing, little tempers are out of control, and toddlers are testing boundaries, there is no option to say, "Well, you win.  We'll do it your way."

In every situation, in every challenge, every day, I am molding the characters of four impressionable and developing individuals.  In so many ways, I fall short in the lessons I want to teach them... but the bottom line is, there is no option to just give in and let that particular issue slide.

All that to say, with our cat, Lexie, I'm done being The Bad Guy.  Lexie has been an indoor cat since she and I found each other over nine-and-a-half years ago.  She was declawed shortly after I decided to keep her, and has never had the proper vaccinations to be an outdoor cat.  She has made a few efforts to get outside over the years, but nothing that a quick "Shoo" couldn't prevent -- until this past Christmas.

Apparently Hubby's family coming to visit pushed Lexie over the edge and she not only escaped outside multiple times over the course of their visit, she then started crying and howling our doors day and night to be let out.  She also made a very fast break for the outdoors whenever she was given the chance -- and let me tell you, in the efforts of getting four little people out the door in a timely manner, she usually succeeded in her efforts to escape.

A few hours after each escape, she would return to one of our several doors and meow, or simply wait until the door opened again and dart back inside.

Alas, about a week ago, I have relented -- she is now an indoor/outdoor cat.  A nearly ten-year-old-cat is hard to argue with, and she is going to do what she is going to do.

She now goes out with Lloyd every morning, and usually comes in around nap time, and sometimes is content to stay inside the rest of the day, but usually ventures out again in the afternoon, and comes back around dinner time.  Thus far, I have not let her out again after dinner, and she has yet to spend a night outside.  That would be very hard for me to sleep knowing she's not home.

She doesn't seem to mind if its snowy, icy, or rainy... she seems to be a new woman ready to conquer the world -- or at least our neighborhood.

The other day, it was warm enough that the kids and I were outside playing for awhile, and she seemed to want to be included in everything we did.  While we were in the backyard, she was around the backyard -- always within sight of what we were doing.  When we moved to the front yard, she too moved to the front yard and kept a close eye on what we were doing.  When we walked the block-and-a-half to get the mail... she stalked us all the way to the mailboxes, stopped at the house where we stopped, and then promptly turned and followed us back home.

The only thing we're changing is that we have now purchased her a cat tag, which I have never done for her before.  She's had a collar for awhile because it allows us to hear her coming a little, and makes it easier to grab her when needed... but now she officially has a "Lexie Miller" id tag with our phone numbers should they be needed on her forthcoming adventures.

With Lexie, at least, I'm doing being The Bad Guy.