Luke-Sara-Lauren-circa-1990

All I Really Need To Know About Mothering I Learned From My Cat

While I raised my children I remember watching myself over-expend energy. I was aware of what I was doing: helping and working, sharing and caring for everyone who needed me. However, it seemed there was never enough time in the day to slow down and provide for myself what I routinely (and for the most part happily) provided for others.

Midnight is missing from this photo. But my three mewing children are all there.
Midnight is missing from this photo. But my three mewing children are all here.

At work I was a skilled and compassionate nurse. At church I invested heart and soul as a primary teacher, den mother, young women’s leader, choir member, whatever I was called to do. At home I was a deeply devoted and exhausted mom to three kids. Honestly, most days I was overwhelmed by all the responsibilities. But I did the best I could. We ate cereal for dinner on really hard days. Other days it was a rotating menu of tuna casserole, spaghetti, grilled cheese sandwiches, hamburger patties with Rice-A-Roni. Taco Time, Arby’s and Stan’s Drive-In fed us more times than I can count. This was a time of endless giving and comparatively little receiving on my part.

I would be lying if I said I didn’t gain anything from serving and loving all those people at work, church and home. I gained a great deal of understanding about the human condition via those relationships. My capacity for love was enlarged because I believe God gave me strength beyond my own when I chose to serve people in need, especially my own children, and that was a good thing. But I learned lessons along the way about how to give and receive in more enriching, nourishing ways, rather than just “on the run.”

Amazingly, the most empowering example of how to be a good mom and good caregiver came from our cat. My daughter named her Midnight because, well, what else can you call a black cat? Midnight was an indoor-outdoor cat, a combination of street cat and diva and I came to love her for this. We had no pets in my own childhood home and I recognized being pet-less was one of many tragedies of my early years. (I’m both sarcastic and serious when I say that, depending on the day). So, I let my kids have pets. Through the years we had gerbils, mice, rabbits, fish, lizards, frogs and the occasional garter snake. But mostly cats. By the way, it turns out cats like to eat frogs, especially in the middle of the night. And then leave the remains in the hallway for you to step on in the dark on your way to the bathroom. Just in case you were wondering.

Anyway, one afternoon I retreated to my bedroom to fold laundry on the bed, away from the sounds of TV and whatever else was going on in the house. It must have been a Saturday because it was mid-day and I was at home. A few days earlier Midnight had given birth to a litter of kittens in a blanket-lined box in my closet. As I folded towels and matched socks, I watched her caring for her newborn kittens. She nursed them, cleaned them, let them cuddle next to her. Then she did something that surprised me. She left her babies.

She got up from where she was lying, stepped over them, and left those newborn-blind, helpless kittens mewing plaintively in their box. They began feeling around, smelling for her, trembling as they tried to walk on tiny paws. And she just walked away. I stopped what I was doing to watch. I remember feeling sorry for the kittens. But I also felt compelled to follow Midnight to see where she was going.

She went to her food dish. She ate. She drank. She went outside and did her business. Then she came back in the living room, found a spot on the floor where a shaft of light had warmed the carpet and she lay down. She cleaned herself, stretched her legs, laid her head on her paws and closed her eyes.

That’s when it hit me. BAM! This cat instinctively cares for herself. No one has to tell her what to do. She doesn’t buy books about feline co-dependence or how to be a good mommy cat. She doesn’t call her cat sister on her cat telephone to cry about how hard it is to create balance in her life. She leaves her kittens safe and sound and follows her natural instincts to care for herself so she can care for her offspring. Period. End of story. Her cat brain does not allow her to over-ride her instincts like a human brain does.

Maybe you were raised in a home with a mom who provided a good example of how to do this. Unfortunately, I wasn’t. So, this was a big deal for me. In fact, I was permanently altered that day. Midnight’s example of self-care was all I needed to let go of mommy guilt that held me hostage. I stopped feeling bad about the time I spent in my garden. I made sure to provide regular lunch dates for myself with friends. I joined a writer’s group. I started paying attention to my physical, emotional and spiritual resources and began responding in a more organic, instinctive way to cues of stress and exhaustion. This may be the time when I began taking routine afternoon naps. I no longer made excuses for my particular energy level or lack thereof when it came to church callings. I realized that my own instincts were the landmarks God gave me to define my mothering and care-giving limits.

I also began to understand better that each woman has different capacities and only she can interpret her own inner cues in context of her mothering.

This moment of enlightenment has stayed with me for more than twenty years. Initially, I thought about it every single day. Now, it’s only on occasion. But I do still think about it and remind myself to pay attention to what my body, heart and mind are telling me. I also use the Midnight-the-Mother-Cat allegory to provide support and counsel regarding caregiver burnout for my patients and their families.  I did this just last week for an eighty-year-old spouse of one of our dialysis patients. He became misty-eyed as I told him how I learned about being a good caregiver from my cat. I think Midnight’s example helped him. I hope it will help you too.

 

How do you nurture yourself?

Are you planning ways to provide good self-care during the holidays?

Do you have a cat?

10 Responses

  1. About ten years ago, I went to my husband and told him I wanted a weekly night off. Our kids ranged in age from one to 11 and I was caring for them (and him) full time. I’m not sure how he felt about it, but he agreed. For months, every Wednesday was my night. I would leave as soon as he got home from work. I did different things, went to dinner with my sister, went to the movies or just walked around a craft store–all by myself.

    Now, I get plenty of alone time, so my pampering consists more of time with others who fulfill my creative and feminine needs. When I feel guilty, I push it aside and remind myself of how many dishes I’ve washed, meals I’ve cooked and people I’ve nurtured.

    I love the analogy, it’s such a great reminder to take care of ourselves.

    (No cats for me. I was brought up in a very cat-prejudiced home.)

    1. Julie – thank you for your perspective and ideas. I love to read how others work these things out. I am a recovered cat-hater. All it took was two minutes with a baby kitten, (runt of my sister’s cat’s litter )in my arms and my prejudice melted. We named him Lion. And loved him for his whole life.

  2. Melody–I always enjoy the way you write and your balanced perspective. And this cat analogy is AWESOME. I was also very touched by how your analogy helped that 80-year-old man.

    I’ve always been a dog person, until a feral kitten ended up in our yard 3 months ago. And now she’s our beloved indoor/outdoor cat. Everyday I am thankful for the additional love she’s brought to our home. I still can’t believe I’ve been converted to cats…!

    1. Thanks for you kind remarks. . . glad you enjoyed reading. Also, I should confess that although I am a pet person at heart, since my kids grew up and moved into their own homes and lives, I’ve been happily pet-free. Hoping I haven’t missed any more important life lessons! I would pet-sit for you though, if you ever needed it. 😉

  3. I really appreciate this analogy. My self-care strategy at the moment is sleeping when I’m tired (except at work–that could get me fired =) ). My family is going through a particularly rough time right now. But those same challenges have basically wiped out my normal social/church/self-imposed to-do lists so I’ve been left with little to do at night once my daughter is in bed besides feel sorry for myself (which I try to avoid as pity parties help no one) or watch TV (which gets old after awhile). And it’s been such a blessing in disguise because it means that when my body and spirit are tired I can go to bed with no laundry list of to-dos to keep me up until a normal adult bedtime. At first I felt guilty, and often I feel lazy for not spending my time more productively and inventing or creating tasks for myself. I could be learning a skill, a language, or serving others. I could clean extra, get some exercise, journal, or engage in any number of worthwhile pursuits. But this was a good reminder that if my body is telling me to sleep, I should probably listen. The fact I can fall asleep that early is a good indication all the stress we’re going through is taking a much bigger physical toll than might be obvious from the outside and that, for this season in my life at least, I can respond and treat myself gently and give my mind and body the rest it needs. I am certain that allowing myself to sleep when I’m tired is the reason I’ve been able to take such good care of my daughter and remain relatively cheerful during waking hours despite all the current chaos.

    1. Lovely examples here. Thank you. This reminds me of a comment left on facebook by one of my friends: “I remember watching my cat and making a very similar realization. In fact, I climbed out of post-partum by deciding for one week to do what my cat did as much of the day as I could — I lay in the sun, I ran outside, I groomed, I ate, I napped. “Amazingly” the blues lost their death-grip on me and everything became more handle-able after that.” – MJ.

      It seems so silly, really. I mean the cat thing. You know? But so very important. Life-saving.

      And I hope you continue to find peace and strength in your life. God is good. Blessings to you.

  4. Melody, thank you. I love this so much, and it is so timely for me.

    Shortly after I gave birth I wrote my friend explaining that when I was pregnant it was so clear that the best way I could take care of my baby was to take care of myself, and I mentioned that intellectually I knew it was still true, now that the babe was out of my womb and in my arms, but it suddenly felt much, much harder.

  5. I love your thoughts, Melody! Learning how to drop that guilt is something I’m still trying to do. I need to hire more babysitters. I know it. That would be better for me and the kids, since so often I try to get work done while they are around, which leaves me turning on the TV too often for them and telling them that mommy is busy and to go entertain yourselves. If I had more childcare, I think I would have much higher quality time with them.

    1. Thanks for your comment, Caroline. And good luck with finding the balance you and you kidlets need. You’re remarkable.

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As an independent-thinking parent, I have become like Roz, a Wild Robot. Taught to be conformist, obedient and task-oriented, I've written hard-earned wisdom over my old hard drive. Differentiated spiritual experiences and interpretations cover my soul like the moss and lichen that grow on Roz during her time on the island. I'm no longer interested in serving and pleasing religious authorities for the sake of doing so. They underestimated my capacities and willingness to claim independence and adapt to adversity. These authorities also miscalculated how much my loyalty toward the institution could diminish if they failed to provide my children with a spiritually healthy, accommodating, and loving experience in the Church.

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