Well, one of the by-words around here (well, with my own kids--I don't inflict my stepsons or their mother with this) is: "It's always the Mommy's fault." Cats know instinctively, that it's always the human's fault. Always.
(It's amazing how far the mommy version of that statement got me, when my kids were teens. A teen in high dudgeon about his mom's ills, doesn't get very far when you've already trotted that out for all sorts of outrageous situations. Snow? Mom's fault. Kids picked on you at school? Mom's fault. Heavy traffic? Guess who's fault that is. So, when they're mad and absolutely certain that it's all your fault, just repeating that mantra gives them both confirmation of what they're feeling and the space to start thinking about all the ways it's not really Mom's fault. :D
Oh, yes. Mine are gathered around, right now, telling me just how much my fault it is that they're going to waste away to nothing because I haven't fed them yet. This, I should note, is especially true of the cats with a tendency to put on weight.
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regna
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Date: 2009-01-11 01:36 am (UTC)(It's amazing how far the mommy version of that statement got me, when my kids were teens. A teen in high dudgeon about his mom's ills, doesn't get very far when you've already trotted that out for all sorts of outrageous situations. Snow? Mom's fault. Kids picked on you at school? Mom's fault. Heavy traffic? Guess who's fault that is. So, when they're mad and absolutely certain that it's all your fault, just repeating that mantra gives them both confirmation of what they're feeling and the space to start thinking about all the ways it's not really Mom's fault. :D
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Date: 2009-01-11 03:17 am (UTC)The cats are bad enough, though.
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Date: 2009-01-11 03:32 am (UTC)