Lily the Animal Activist

I always knew that Lily was a sensitive little girl, but I didn't know just how sensitive she really could be. We were at Petsmart over the weekend and we always make it a point to have enough time to look around and let the kids see the animals. We did the usual: fish, birds, mice, rats and guinea pigs... We peeked into the dog training corral and looked at the lizards... When we approach the cats, Lily knows that we don't step into the room with them. Both Matt and I are a bit allergic to them and we are just cautious with the kids being around them. 

On this particular day, I am willing for a minute to go into the cat room with the kids so that they could take a closer look at them and hear them meow. I can't recall a time where Sophie could have heard a cat meow before, so I thought that this would be pretty fun. There was one kitten that caught Lily's eye. It was all black and had a giant kitten mouth and a giant kitten meow! It also had giant kitten eyes... perfect for melting a parent and child's heart into adopting it. And no, we did not adopt it!

Lily is looking and laughing at this cute little kitten and Sophie is matching the pitch and tone of the "meow!" Suddenly I realize that Lily is staring at this kitten and talking to it. She's not touching it, just having a heartfelt conversation with it. I tell Lily that it's time to go and she asks, "Where will the kitten go until we come back here?" I tell her that it will probably get adopted soon and that it will go to a good home. At this answer, her eyes start to tear up and she starts to get upset. She says, "I don't want that kitten to be adopted! I want to keep her and take her home!" We meet Matt at the cash register and she's wailing about leaving the kitten at the pet store. We calm her down and reassure her that the kitten will go to a family who will love and care for it and it will grow up happy and healthy. She starts to feel a bit better and says, "Someday I'm going to adopt all of the animals at Petsmart. And I'm going to be an artist and a pilot too." 

The whole scenario made me and Matt laugh because for all of the times she snatched toys away from Sophie, for all the times she's waved a bite of her dinner in front of our dogs, there was just something about that cat that made her so emotional. It's nice to know that we're raising such compassionate kids. 

Lily and our one year old Great Dane, Stoney.