We have a cat. It’s an outdoor cat because I’m allergic.

She wandered up to our house and had a litter of kittens and then came a second time with another litter. After the second litter, I took her to the vet and got her fixed and got her shots.

And then she chose to make our home her new home. So we named her “Emmy” because of her “emerald” green eyes.

But mostly, we just call her “Kitty.”

She is a good outdoor cat. She periodically leaves gifts of dead and mutilated mice, rats, and rabbits on the doorstep!

But I don’t get mad at her. She’s just doing her job and it’s better than having those varmints trying to get in the house. I just quickly remove the varmint remains before the children see it.

Now any cat owner knows that cats have their own ways about them and they are quite full of themselves! I call it Cattitudes!

Our cat has particular eating habits and rituals. She’s finicky like most cats. And if I don’t abide by the proper feeding procedures, then she refuses to eat!

She only eats one thing, her cat food. Not just any cat food, but a particular brand and flavor.

And, if I don’t feed her the regular cat food, then she won’t eat.

And, if I try to feed her food scraps, she won’t eat them, not even fish, chicken, or steak.

And, the cat food must be accompanied by a little milk. If the milk isn’t included, she lets me know by pacing back and forth in front of her dish.

When I feed her, if some of the granules of cat food fall on the ground beside her dish or if some of the milk spills to the ground beside her dish, then she eats the food and laps the milk on the ground first before eating or drinking what’s in her dish.

THE CAT AND THE KIDS HAVE THE SAME EATING HABITS!

When she eats her cat food and drinks her milk, she never eats all the food or drinks all the milk. She always leaves food and milk in her dish.

And it’s not like she’s going to come back and finish it later when she gets hungry again. She’s done with it. It’s old. You have to empty and clean the residual food scraps and curdled milk from the bowl before you feed her again.

Lately, I’ve noticed that the eating habits of the kids are the same eating habits as the cat!

They only want to eat one thing. At breakfast, it’s pancakes or cold cereal or nothing at all. If I try to give them an omelet or oatmeal, they won’t touch it or they do a fake gag!

And, if I try to serve something new or something nutritious for dinner, the same story. They won’t have anything to do with it.

And it seems the better the meal is, the harder I worked to prepare a good meal, the less they want to eat it. In other words, if it’s nutritious then it’s not delicious (or, if it’s not nutritious then it’s delicious)!

And, meals must be accompanied by something to drink, usually chocolate milk or juice. But if I give them the drink with the meal, then all they want to do is drink and don’t want to eat any of their meal. So, I must use the drink to bribe them to eat their food! If you eat, then you get a drink.

When I feed the kids, if they see something that looks like food laying on the floor or if food falls off their plate on the floor, they will grab it and put it in their mouths faster than I can yell “No!” In fact, they would rather eat food off the floor or off the ground rather than off their plate! Maybe I ought to start serving dinner under the table instead of on table!

When they eat, they never clean their plates. They always leave food on their plate, especially if it is food that has vegetables in it.

And it’s not like they ate until they were full. They are not going to come back later and finish their nutritious meal. They are going to leave the table hungry and then in a little while beg for snacks.

Oh no! It’s true! The kids have Cattitudes! Meow!