A Collection of Cat Stories and Food Stories, but only one cat food Story

I love doing Secret Subject Swaps! There are some really creative prompts that I've been given. Sometimes they stir up some profound feelings and I write very serious things. Sometimes they are funny and I get to tell or make up funny stories. And once in a while my brain just doesn't quite connect with the prompt and I have to go rogue. This is one of those times.

The Strawberry Cake

Ask my mom what someone's favorite birthday cake is and she'll confidently reply "chocolate cake/chocolate icing." The problem is...that's her favorite, not everyone else's!! We laugh about it a lot. And it's worked out pretty well for her when people have actually gotten that combo on their birthdays.

One year, back in college, I asked my brother what kind of cake he wanted and it turned out he liked strawberry cake with strawberry frosting. So I set about to make that exact combo for him...from scratch...while I was in college. It wasn't an easy feat since I didn't have all the baking tools I have now. But I did it. I have baked and decorated a very nice strawberry cake with strawberry frosting for my brothers' birthday. I was headed up to his apartment for a visit the weekend of his birthday and planning bringing it with me.

I went upstairs to finish packing my bags. I packed up the car and got ready to head out. I went back to the kitchen to get the cake and found...

My roommate's cat, on the counter, happily licking the frosting off the cake!

I screamed at that cat (who had quite the history of hi-jinks). My roommates came and apologized. The cat wasn't supposed to be out of their room anyway! I was fuming! But it was time to leave.

I had no choice but to cut off the half of the cake the cat had sampled and pack up the other half. That was the year my brother got half a cake for his birthday. But at least it wasn't a chocolate/chocolate combo, right?!

The Broccoli Soup

This past Sunday when we went to the grocery store the kids were mad because I had not let them have an impromptu playdate after church. I didn't feel the need to placate them for not going along with plans they had never informed me of, but I did want to have a peaceful day. I asked each kid to pick out what they wanted for dinner some time this week and I would make it for them.

Frances immediately asked for a taco night. That's my girl! I happily obliged, since that's easy and delicious.

Henry never gave me a complete answer, but he did request Brussels sprouts, so I bought him some of those.

Benjamin looked around the produce department and requested broccoli soup.

ME: You want to eat broccoli soup?
Ben: Yes.
Me: Last time we had it, you said it was yuck!
Ben: Bu
t I like it!
Me: If I buy broccoli and make soup, you will eat it? Promise?
Ben: Yes.

We had taco night on Monday and during our dinner conversation and reminded Benjamin of his request. I once again affirmed that he had asked for broccoli soup and he once again assured me that's what he wanted.

On Tuesday, as I was leaving to go to work, I told Ben that we would have broccoli soup for dinner that night. He smiled and clapped his hands.
 "You're going to eat it, right?" I asked.
"YES!" He said.

Tuesday afternoon I went home on my lunch break and placed the ingredients in my crock pot. I set it to cook and went back to work, relieved that dinner would be taken care of when I got home.

Tuesday night, we set the table and sat down for dinner. I set the crockpot down and opened the lid.

"EEEWWW!!! What's that smell?!" Benjamin cried.

And we all ate broccoli soup without him.

Eats cat food, but not broccoli soup!

What?! You didn't think he was actually going to try it after all his assurances, did you? You must be new here!

Cat Stockings

Back in the early years of child rearing, I had more time to do silly things like giving the cat his own Christmas stocking. He'd get some treats, a new toy, and a can or two of some fancy cat food in a can. Then for about a week after Christmas I'd try to entice him to eat some fancy food. It always dried up on the plate and not once did he eat it. I finally gave up trying to buy him fancy foods and we've stuck with the generic dry cat food; first for kittens, then for cats, and now for "older pets." I guess he's just a simple cat with simple needs; like waking up up at 4AM just to check on our reaction time.

The Prompt

By now you must be wondering what the prompt I am avoiding was all about. Well, here ya go:

You're having your family over for dinner and in the midst of cooking for your germaphobe child, your cat jumps on the counter and sneezes all over dinner. What do you do? It was submitted by: http://www.southernbellecharm.com

I think I've circled around all the pieces of it, but it never came all together as one story. The problem is that Oscar has motor coordination issues and he literally can't jump on to a counter (but my old roommate's cat sure could!). Also, my kids aren't germaphobes, but I do have one particularly picky eater. And incidentally, I guess the cat's pretty picky too. He's just likes the cheap stuff. So instead of one story, you get three. How's that sound?

Here are links to all the sites now featuring Secret Subject Swap posts. Sit back, grab a cup, and check them all out. See you there:

Baking In A Tornado
Dinosaur Superhero Mommy
Spatulas on Parade
The Diary of an Alzheimer’s Caregiver 
Confessions of a part time working mom
Simply Shannon
Never Ever Give Up Hope 
The Bergham Chronicles
Climaxed 
A Little Piece of Peace 
Southern Belle Charm