Considerate Bronwen

On Sunday as I was busy cleaning the kitchen and chatting on the phone Bronwen was busy trying to force feed the cats. It is one of her favorite things to do. She fills up each of the cat food bowls so that they are brimming with kibble. Then she scours the house for each cat.

“Boo Boo Kitty, where are you?” she sing songs through each room.

When she finds the cat, she will place the over-filled bowl under his/her chin and will proceed to yell at them.

“Eat, Boo Boo Kitty. Eat your food,” she shouts.

This is usually when I pipe in “Stop yelling at the cats, Bronwen,” at which point I hear her whispering loudly, “Eat your food, Boo Boo Kitty!”

On Sunday as I was cleaning up I saw her fill up the three bowls and take them to the living room. But I must have been busy because I missed when she slid the 15 gallon container of cat food across the kitchen floor, through the dining room and into the living room.

I hung up the phone and continued to do the dishes. It was then that I noticed a distinct lack of Bronwen noise. I listened carefully. She was whispering,

“Eat your food, Fay.”

I walked into the living room to ensure that Bronwen wasn’t forcing Fay's head into his feeding bowl (she likes to do that too.) I stopped dead in the doorway. Here is what I saw: Bronwen was standing next to the couch with the open cat food container on her left and the couch on her right and an empty cup in her hand. Fay was sitting on the couch on top of a crumpled up blanket that I had tossed aside after my nap earlier, surrounded by mounds of cat food. It was heaped up around his legs and in front of his face. It spilled over the blanket onto the couch, into the cracks between the seat cushions. Fay looked like a Sphinx, long lost in a secret underground cave, surrounded by gold coins, piled as high as his head.

I wanted to laugh; I know that she was just trying to enable Fay to eat without having to get up. But it was a mess and I was angry that I had to clean it up.

“Go to you room, Bronwen,” I growled. She laughed at me. “Seriously, go to your room!”

I took the cup out of hand and sent her stalking out. Only then did I start laughing.