I read this morning that the difference between amateur writers and professional writers is that the latter write as per a schedule and do allow concerns of life to disrupt the schedule; in short, they treat writing the same way that other professionals treat their jobs. And this is regardless of writing assignments. They write daily and without giving in to resistance or excuses. Now, I hope at some time in my life to become a serious writer (I’m not sure about wanting to write professionally). Among other things, that is one of my dreams. So, I’ve decided to do my very best at sticking to a writing schedule. One good way to do this, I have been told, is to have a blog and to post regularly on it. Well, why not? But what can I have a blog about?
One of the things in my life that provides an almost endless source of anecdotes is my family, so I have decided to blog about it. It is both an ordinary and a strange family. Let me explain what that means. It means that while we do share the general concerns that any family in our demographic and socio-economic position faces but that there is something unique about it that does not seem to be common to the other families like ours. Mine is, in fact, a bi-species family and cats outnumber humans 2:1. My husband and I are human while my boys—all four of them—are feline! Their names are Frodo, Sam, Merry and Pippin. Yes, that’s right. The hobbits. It is so unusual for a litter to consist solely of four toms that I just could not resist the temptation. They are my darlings and I wish I could spend more time with them than I do.
I have had them since they were five weeks old. That is, roughly, the equivalent of a year and a half in people years. They were hardly three inches long and all four would happily snooze in my lap together. Now they are almost a year and a half (17 and a half in people years), and even when they condescend to occupy my lap after multiple entreaties, not more than one fits into it at a time. They love having their parents (my husband and me- in case you haven’t understood) stay at home though they are quite understanding about our need to go to office. Each of them has his own routine and his own way of showing affection. They are all unique personalities quite distinct from one another. Going by size, Pippin seems to be the eldest and Frodo, the youngest. I used to think that Merry is second and Sam, third, but I am no longer so sure. It doesn’t really matter since they are all equally important for me. I cannot imagine my life without them, though not so long ago the idea of keeping cats while being a double-income family would have sounded outrageous, nothing to say of impossible, to me.
I have grown up with cats and have loved them as family members since birth, but this was a life-changing experience for both my husband and me. Never in my life had I thought that I would get the opportunity to be the mother of such warm, intelligent, understanding, loving and fun-loving boys. I am grateful to them for being who they are and I hope that I can be the mother that they deserve.
