Peace on Earth

The World’s Greatest Nephew came over on Friday night to hang out and eat too much pizza. We surfed the net for funny cat photos and played some Pokemon and Super Mario on his Nintendo DS. (Oh, and the word "sharted" is now guaranteed to send him into fits of laughter. I'm sure his grandma is thrilled with my influence.)

I finally convinced him to hit the sack around midnight so we piled into bed with Turtle and zonked out. I woke up in the wee hours of the morning to find myself being shoved off the bed and my nephew with his arm around the cat—and said cat purring away. This is notable due to the fact that for the past nine years Turtle has been at war with the kid. This was like the lion lying down with the lamb.

Now that my nephew’s older, he’s finally learned that the best way to deal with Turtle is to be quiet and treat him gently. (Also, if you brush his hair and feed him treats, he’ll lay down and die for you.) This is a big change from all the times Turtle’s been chased by a mischievous little boy. Most of the time Turtle has been forced to hide from him in self defense and refused to come out until he was gone. I honestly think he feared the kiddo would eat him. I know I’ve gotten that “it’s me or him” look from him many times over the years.

Now, I do need to note that this change only applies to Turtle. Sam and Tommy still get chased around. I didn't see much of either of them until well after my nephew was gone Saturday afternoon.

Saturday morning peace still reigned in the household as the two of them piled up on the couch to watch cartoons. Turtle even bathed the kiddo’s hand. I should have grabbed the camera to document this momentous occasion, but it was too peaceful to disturb.

Oh, and the WGN informed me that all those leaves he’s been raking need to be put into a compost bin so I can use it as fertilizer if I decide to plant a garden. What are they teaching these kids at school? Well, when he comes over next week, he’ll find himself a brand new bin to fill up. (Hey, I’m taking advantage of his willingness to do manual labor while I can. In another year or two he’ll be doing that whiny preteen thing.)

Blogging will likely be light this week as I am dealing with the auditor at work. It’s day two and I’m already exhausted.