the other day i was looking at the main page here, and chuckled about my famous last words (“we’ve been practicing with our cats for the past five years, how hard can it be?”). there are several reasons why raising a child is SO much easier than “raising” cats. a) seb is already, at 8 months old, WAY smarter than either one of our cats. i don’t know who ever said that cats are relatively smart. they aren’t. b) seb has always been WAY cuter than either of our cats. i used to think that they are cute. but they aren’t. c) seb, in some infant way, appreciates that we take care of him. he smiles at us and laughs at us and reaches for us with his chubby little arms. i used to think that the cats felt some sort of affection for us (why else would they want us to wake up and pet them at 3am?). they don’t. at this point in the game, the only thing the cats have going for them is that they’re self-cleaning. and even that doesn’t impress me very much. when seb finally learns how to bathe himself, i think it’s safe to say that i won’t have to worry about finding him in the living room, dining room, kitchen, bedrooms or walkways, spread eagle, licking his nether-regions.

[disclaimer: the thoughts portrayed in this blog are in no way, shape or form a reflection of anyone in this household but my own. (we all know that brian feels differently about the cats.)]

started to read What’s Going on in There? How the Brain and Mind Develop in the First Five Years of Life by Lise Eliot, who is a neuroscientist somewhere (maybe columbia univ? i don’t want to run get the book right now to find out). anyway, after only reading the first few chapters, i’m beginning to realize how miraculous it truly is (although the author would tout it as just good evolution) that more human beings aren’t brain damaged. seriously. i’m hoping that this book doesn’t make me more paranoid about how i can be ruining seb’s potential as a functioning child and then adult in this world. (yeah, ok jen)