I am now a fur mommy

 

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One of the things about being a single person with no children is you become a mommy to other species.  Let me explain today’s topic….

About almost 3 years ago, my nephew and his girlfriend came to me at the time and ask me if they could bring home a kitten.  This family, especially me and mom are not fond of cats.  I do not know what is it about cats, but the cats that were around mom when she was a child were outdoors cats, and they roamed where they wanted to roam.  They were not allowed in the house (both mom and dad were raised in a rural area, outside a small town called Moundville, Alabama).  Neither were dogs but they were tolerated for the most part.  The only cats I had been around as a child was a family friend’s cat named Monkey.  I was scared of cats because Monkey scratched me when I was 6.  I never had any cats around me until I laid eyes on Gizmo.

Meet Miss Gizmo Elizabeth

Anyway, up until today, I have always referred to Gizmo as my nephew and his girlfriend’s cat because they were the ones who basically took care of her, until their daughter was born in February 2020.  I knew they had to move to a new place because there was barely enough room for the 5 of us (me, Gizmo, nephew, girlfriend, and Strype, who is a miniature Husky), with the baby would make 6.  The baby is now 5 months old, and every day that she grows, she needs more room.  Eventually, this means her own room.

When she was born, my nephew and his girlfriend moved into my parent’s home with them.  They have more room than I need.  Gizmo stayed here, and I started feeding her, and my nephew came over once a week to change the litter box.  Now they are moving to a new city where his father and step-mom are staying, which is an hour and a half from here.

I got upset when I hear the news.  So, they decided to let me have Gizmo, and I am now officially a cat mommy.  I had hoped to be a human mommy first, with my child begging for a dog, cat, or the occasional hamster or gerbil (sorry future children, mommy does not do snakes, mice, lizards, or spiders), but I will take being a fur baby mommy as well. So, what does it take to be a fur baby mommy?  Well….

1. In the first two years, I learned of her temperament.  Gizmo is a pretty chill cat.  She wants to be cuddled, but she also is in a place that I could be sitting at my desk (like I am now) and she lays at my feet or goes someplace to lay in the sun.  She loves her sun.  She will lay there for hours if I let her.  I will get up on occasion to check on her. This includes what she likes and does not like.  She will scratch or slightly bite me if she does not like it (stroking her head for too long).
2. She loves belly rubs (but not for long).
3. She does not like her cat bed.  It is going back to Ikea.  She has not laid on it.  She will lay around it, but I have never seen her on it, even for a minute.  I gave her two months with it and nothing.  I am going to try a cat tree.  By the way, Ikea has a 365-day return policy.
4. She is not crazy about wet cat food.   I give it too her every once in a while, and I got a can with my grocery order this time.  I am going to try a Chewy.com subscription.  She has never had any cat treats before.  I am not sure how I feel about that.

So, now I have some tips for all you first-time fur baby parents.

1.  Know what type of animal you are getting.  Do you want a dog? A cat? A ferret? Fish?  It does not matter what type of animal you are getting as long as you do the research.  I knew Gizmo since she was 6 months old, but she was my nephew’s cat. I had dogs before…at my parent’s home.  Guess who took care of them.  Yep, my parents.  We were in charge of the feeding and the cleaning up, but it was my parents who took them to the vet, making sure they had the food to eat (the right kind), and where they were going to sleep at, not only at home (the dogs were mostly outdoors, except in really bad weather; Gizmo is an indoor cat) but where will they be boarded when we go out of town.  I have a retreat in January out of town.  Cats can take care of themselves for a week.  I will be gone for 3 days, but to be on the safe side, and since I will have a carrier to take her back and forth, I may take her to my nephew’s house.  If the family goes to Walt Disney World next year, I will have to board somewhere for a week because my nephew, his girlfriend, and baby will be at Walt Disney World too.  I have not seen any rules about boarding cats at Disney, only dogs.
2. Establish a routine with them.  Gizmo has a routine already, but I am changing it up a bit.  What I mean is I am getting rid of the current litterbox for a new one so that I can change it.  I got her a cat bed, but it is not working, so I am getting rid of it for a cat tree.  I will have a chewy subscription, and she will have a regular vet.
3. Speaking of which.  Like you need a regular doctor, so does the animal.  Get a vet that is friendly and board if you need it.  One of the dogs had a vet who also boards them.  Most will clean and groom a pet while you are gone. 
4. Finally, talk to it.  I have mommy and me time with Gizmo.  I will sit and cuddle her, and say something positive to her.  I tell her she is a pretty cat and a good fur daughter.  Not only it helps them, but it also helps you too.  cuddling a pet has been known to lower blood pressure.  This is why doctors and therapists use them in hospitals.  Call it animal affirmations.

Well, that is it for now on the pet end.  I will have more, since your pet is part of the family, and I do have family posts on here.  I will also talk about the adoption of a pet, rescue pets (Strype is a rescue mini Husky), and other pet care areas.

Until then, be well.

Your Food is Ready for Delivery

(c) 2018 by Various Websites such as Shipt, Amazon, Walmart,
Blue Apron, and unknown restaurant.
Photos Arranged by P. Lynne Designs

Disclaimer:  I have links to many of the services you will see on in this post that I may or may not receive a small commission.  The commission helps me with maintaining this blog and other business things.  I like to inform readers of these services and you are not obligated to make a purchase. Thank you

A few years ago, I wrote in my blog, Simply Organized Crafts, an article on home meal prep services.  At the time, I was a willing participant of Blue Apron (not sponsored).  By willing participant, I bought the service with my own money.  The blog post was not a sponsored post, and I did a review on what I thought about it.  I also did a product review on my YouTube channel.  You can watch it here.   The reason I loved Blue Apron (and other home meal services) was the convenience of having to prepare a meal, delivered to your home, and you do not have to go out or hunt down the ingredients at an international food store which you are not familiar with.  You get a hot meal with your family which you actually cooked, and you get to spend time at the dinner table.  This is something that experts say we no longer make time to do anymore.  The food is fresh, and it can make time for couples and or families to share together a hot meal. From there came grocery store home delivery services.

Grocery Store Delivery

Grocery stores looked at this and felt that people no longer wanted to shop in their stores, especially when Amazon offers food delivery services, and with the acquisition of Whole Foods, other chains were starting to feel the pinch of fewer shoppers to their stores.  So, they started delivering food to homes as well.  Companies like:

Peapod

Shipt

Curbside (by Giant Eagle)

Walmart

Kroger Grocery Delivery (formally known as Clicklist)

Started popping up for home grocery delivery, turning the dreadful grocery shopping trip into a wonderful experience. Just think, you go to an app on your smartphone, pick out the items listed, select how many you need, and put it in your virtual shopping cart.  Two seconds later, you are in virtual checkout mode, paying for groceries via debit or credit card (sorry, not available for those with an EBT/Snap card).  A personal shopper is picking out your groceries and other items and getting them prep for pickup by you or delivered to your location of choice.  How convenient is that concept?

Restaurants want some love too.

Since I no longer have the blog, I cannot refer you to the post on home grocery or home meal prep, but that is not the point to this post.  I am here to talk to you about the convenience of coming home, too tired to cook, and having a hot, delicious meal delivered to your home by your favorite restaurant faster than you can say, “pizza!”.  This service was started by the concept of delivering pizza and has grown to include steak, cakes, bubble tea, and even sushi for starters.  Services like Grub Hub, Door Dash, and others have made it fun to eat out, and the best part is you get to stay at home, warm and comfy in fall and winter months with your family.  Even Uber is getting into the act.  Not only do they deliver people to their destinations, but they will also deliver your food as well.

I started using Uber Eats a few months ago.  I was bogged down with working and too tired to cook.  Actually, I was close to running out of my monthly stash, and I wanted something different.  I ordered a dish from a local Italian street food place called Piada, and order a bowl dish and some cannoli chips with a spread for dipping.  I paid by debit card, including the delivery fee of $4.99, and in 20 minutes, I was eating my meal and continued working.  The last time I used it was 2 days ago when I ordered a Poke Salad (not very good) and some Thai Iced Tea with Ginger in it (it was very good).  My total was $13.00 for the meal, plus a delivery fee charge of $6.99, making the total, $21.99.  The difference between the two delivery charges depends on the distance between the eating place and your home.  In other words, mileage for the driver.  Could I have gotten up and driven the place?  Yes, I could have, but once again, I was bogged down with work, and having no time to cook.

I Need Some Backup For my Claims…

Certainly, I am not the only one who uses these services.  Yesterday, I asked my Facebook friends if they have ever used a restaurant delivery service like Grub Hub, Door Dash, or Uber Eats, and out of 1,080 friends, I got 3 answers.  A friend uses it at least once a week, another only use it for pizza, and the last friend uses it by ordering and picking it up herself, while a family member uses it for pizza only.  She also mentions that she mostly cooks and take out (which is where all of this originated from) is very rare in her home.  I also asked if it affects the family dynamic by not cooking together and the last person who answered my question said that it does not matter if the meal is home cooked or not, what’s important is the family sits down for a meal together.

Family Matters

I happen to agree with my friend.  We need to sit down to eat together as a family, no matter where you are; no phones or computers, sit down and have a conversation with your children, your spouse or partner, a roommate, your parents, or anyone who is living with you.  A person does not need to feel like a guest in their own home.  During this time, play a game called, Catch-up.  In this game, the rules are very simple. 

Ask the people around the table how their day was before the meal was prepared or delivered.  You do not have to ask for report cards, reprimand a child for not taking out the trash, or ask a spouse where the water bill was $200 this month.  This is a time of peace, good conversation, and a hot meal.  Enjoy each other, and the only rule is to leave the electronics where they are.  No phone conversation, no texting, no playing the latest game, and no scheduling of play dates, hair and nail appointments, or in my case, business appointments.  If there has to be a problem to be solved, do not come to the table mad, explain in a calm, peaceful way, and listen with intention.  Do not criticize the person in need and do not belittle them.  It is not easy for them to come to you in the first place. If you must correct people, especially children, do it in a calm, peaceful manner.  I am not trying to tell you how to parent, but if you want a peaceful time to eat and enjoy a meal, this is not the time to yell and scream at a person.  The world is stressful enough without making dinnertime a place of stress as well.  Not only that, it does nothing for the digestive system when you are trying to eat, and you tense up due to stress at the table.

Conclusion:

There are some many ways of getting hot meals today.  This includes cooking the traditional way (going to the grocery store to pick up what your heart desires or have it delivered, and sling pots and pans), home meal kits (prepare a meal based on a recipe and ingredients, handpicked by a company, delivered to your home, and slinging pots and pans for a delicious meal); or order in (restaurant prepares the food and you either pick it up or have it delivered to your home).  It is not a new concept.  Even fast food eating places are getting into the act.  You can order McDonald's, Wendy’s, or White Castle from the comfort of your own home and have a company like Uber Eats deliver it there.  Some call it lazy while others call it convenience.  I am on the side of convenience.  Some people cannot cook, nor do they want to.  I have also done the traditional, “order pizza in, skip the lines to get a table.”  I do have one delivery service, who I do not recommend, but only because the delivery fee was $36.00.  I cannot remember the name of the service, but for the same meal from the same restaurant I was ordering from, the delivery could have been $6.99, the same fee as the one I ordered from two days ago.  (they are within a block from each other).   This is the only thing that I have to ask you to watch, the delivery fee.  Ask yourself before you put in your debit or credit card number if the food and the delivery fee worth it, especially if you are on a budget.  It may be more convenient for you to drive over and pick it up or not order at all.

Also remember, it is not if the food was cooked by you or Mickey D’s (McDonald’s), what matters is family, and it is more important that you spend time with them. 

I want to thank my three Facebook friends for answering my question, Friday.  I will have more questions to help me with future blog posts later on, and I do not have to mention your name unless you want me too.

You have a blessed day.