"cat"-napped

I have kept pretty good journals over the years, particularly of the doings of my young children (I wanted documentation). Although I didn’t get down everything noteworthy, I am very glad for what I did write, it is an important insight into the workings of developing individuals. Jesse’s journal has been a source of great delight to the whole family; there have been times when his siblings would be blue or bored and suggest, “Let’s read Jesse’s journals!” In no time they’d be rolling on the floor laughing so hard at the antics of that boy. There was the time he kicked a greenie Elder in the shin with his cowboy boots just because “He was looking at me funny.” And the time he went right up to a stranger smoking outside the library and told him, “You are going to die.” (Thankfully, the man took no offense, but agreed that smoking is very bad and cautioned him never to start). By the time Jesse was nine, we thought (hoped) he was growing out of some of his impulsiveness. But then we had a wild summer full of unusual adventures, culminating with the incident known as the “kidnapping”.

Neighbors down the street came knocking one day, looking for their missing cat; had we seen it? No, hadn’t seen it. The next day they came again, “Are you sure you haven’t seen it? We think Jesse might have it.” No, still hadn’t seen it. I thought it was peculiar that they thought Jesse had it, I didn’t know where he would have it; but then Jesse got blamed for a lot of things. The next day they came again, “We really think Jesse has our cat; we think he kidnapped it.” By this time I was getting a little perturbed and the Momma Bear began to emerge. “Jesse doesn’t have your cat! How in the world could Jesse kidnap your cat? The cat can jump over the fence; the cat can crawl under the gate. What makes you think Jesse has your cat?” My husband overheard the exchange and came to the door. In his mind was the thought, “If anyone could kidnap a cat, Jesse could… if anyone would kidnap a cat, it would be Jesse.” He told the neighbor children he’d check into it. He approached Aaron, Jesse’s younger brother and likely partner in crime. Aaron was at that lovely innocent age when lying is still a foreign concept. “Oh, yes, Jesse has a cat. He has him in a cage made of wood scraps, hidden in the alley up the street a ways. He’s had him for three days and has been taking him food and water. Wanna see it?” Jesse returned the cat to its rightful owners, wrote a heartfelt apology letter, and worked hard all afternoon making homemade cinnamon rolls as a peace offering.

Just when you think you’ve seen it all, children have a way of opening your eyes a little wider…