Re: Cats and Dogs Story
Steven G. Tyler (sgtyler@EROLS.COM)
Mon, 24 Aug 1998 12:30:06 -0400
Kathy Coates wrote:
> Help! I thought I had saved that wonderful story someone posted not too long
> ago about how when boys are little they are like dogs and when they are
> teenagers they are like cats.
>
> I would like to use that story at our next roundtable in Septembe when I
> lecture new Boy Scout leaders on w hat to expect when transitioning from Cub
> leader positions to Boy Scout leader positions.
>
> If you have a copy, you can send it directly to my e-mail address.
> Thanks!!! Katherine Coates, ASM Troop 28
Not a problem, Cathy! As posted back in February:
"The Cat Years," by Adair Lara, SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE, MARCH 28, 1996
I just realized that while children are dogs -- loyal and
affectionate -- teen-agers are cats. It's so easy to be a dog owner. You
feed it, train it, boss it around. It puts its head on your knee and
gazes at you as if you were a Rembrandt painting. It bounds indoors with
enthusiasm when you call it.
Then, around age 13, your adoring little puppy turns into a big old
cat. When you tell it to come inside, it looks amazed, as if wondering
who died and made you emperor. Instead of dogging your foot-steps, it
disappears. You won't see it again until it gets hungry -- then it
pauses on its sprint through the kitchen long enough to turn its nose up
at whatever you're serving. When you reach out to ruffle its head, in
that old affectionate gesture, it twists away from you, then gives you a
blank stare as if trying to remember where it has seen you before.
You, not realizing that the dog is now a cat, think something must
be desperately wrong with it. It seems so antisocial, so distant, sort
of depressed. It won't go on family outings.
Since you're the one who raised it, taught it to fetch and stay and
sit on command, you assume that you did something wrong. Flooded with
guilt and fear, you redouble your efforts to make your pet behave.
Only now you're dealing with a cat, so everything that worked
before now produces the opposite of the desired result. Call it, and it
runs away. Tell it to sit, and it jumps on the counter. The more you go
toward it, wringing your hands, the more it moves away.
Instead of continuing to act like a dog owner, you can learn to
behave like a cat owner. Put a dish of food near the door, and let it
come to you. But remember that a cat needs your help and your affection
too. Sit still, and it will come, seeking that warm, comforting lap it
has not entirely forgotten. Be there to open the door for it.
One day, your grown-up child will walk into the kitchen, give you a
big kiss and say, "You've been on your feet all day. Let me get those
dishes for you." Then you'll realize your cat is a dog again.
--
YIS, Steve on Cattail Creek <Steven G. Tyler>, Severna Park, MD, USA
"The Computer Counselor," Technology Consulting for the Law Office
Advancement Chair and de facto Webmaster, Troop 339,
Baltimore Area Council, BSA (http://members.aol.com/troop339/)
Terry Howerton Sakima Group, Inc. SCOUTER Magazine Kansas City |
