Changing Focus

I started thinking last night that maybe I should change the focus of this blog a bit.  Maddie and Trotter continue to amuse and entertain me every day, so there are plenty of adventures.  But, there is another joy that comes from having such lively youngsters in your life... education.  As I watch them grow and play, I begin to remember the simple innocence and pleasures of childhood.  Since I've never been a parent, I guess I've not been exposed to the rediscovery of innocence that comes from being around children.  Instead, I get a similar experience with my non-human-speaking children.  So, thus begin LIFE LESSONS BY MADDIE AND TROTTER:

Lesson 1: Bottle caps make great bathtub hockey pucks. 

Last night I was in the bathroom removing labels from empty medicine bottles.  Trotter jumped up on the counter and immediately deposited himself into the sink.  The trouble is, there is a tiny drip from the faucet that falls on kitty's side when he's curled up there.  Sometimes he reaches over and licks the spigot to catch the drips.  So, I decided to hold an empty bottle under the spigot to help him out.  That didn't faze him, but what did catch his attention was the bottle cap.  He came over and grabbed it out of my hand and ran for the tub, where he realized it made the most awesome sound... and, it came back to him when he batted it up the side!  Maddie then appeared and there was a very brief soccer match until Trotter picked the cap up and ran with it to the living room.  There it became the toy du jour and stimulated lots of mysterious whumps and thumps in the dark after I went to bed.  Those whumps and thumps translated into books and other precious belonging knocked to the floor by flying kitties. But, it reminded me that sometimes unexpected joys come from inexpensive toys.