Simon Says.......

I don't think I have ever talked about Simon before. Simon is the head of our household. How can he be the head of our household if I am single, you say? Because he is the Simonater! He is the ,shhhh, say it quietly.............CAT!

He is the most beautiful cat you will ever see. He almost looks like a Russian Blue. He isn't quite as fancy as that. Simon is quite the mystery to us. A few years ago he showed up at our door and politely asked for some food. He used his guest manners when he first met us. He loved the food. He came back the next day and asked for more. He did this for several days in a row. Then he politely invited himself into our home to dine. He stayed a while and would leave as any guest did. At some point in our relationship, Simon decided that he loved our home. He decided that we could use a good house leader so he graciously invited himself to stay and help us out.

What would we do without our little boy? He is always mindful of how slow humans are to catch onto things.....He practices supreme patience with us by repeating requests as many times as needed until the light bulb finally clicks on in our heads.

Take his food for example. He so lovingly meows to us if we should forget to refresh his bowl every hour. He is generally very loving about reminding us. He even uses his polite voice when he has to wake us at 3 or 4 in the morning that we forgot to refresh his bowl. Isn't he so sweet? Most people would use their annoying voice so early in the morning. But not our Simon! He is so polite at all hours.

He is even so sweet about his water bowl. He realizes it is so hard for us to see whether he has enough water, or even if it is fresh enough. He has found a way to help us out. He simply pushes his water bowl out in the middle of the kitchen floor for us whenever he wants it serviced. And Simon, in his good natured way, never gets upset with us when we accidentally trip over the water bowl and spill the "old" water all over the kitchen floor. He understands that we are so dense that sometimes we don't even see something that is so obviously placed right in front of our noses!

He is the sweetest when he plays with the kids. He realizes that all kids need to use their brains and create strategy! Isn't that what life is all about? He loves to get in the middle of their beds and let them try to figure out how to get him out without getting a scratch or a little nip. He wants them to learn to conquer pain and fear! Most people would laugh at the fear that Ya Ya displays whenever she has to confront Simon.....Not him.....He patiently teaches her to toughen up. Won't she be so ready for the world when she is grown?

Simon has even found an easy way to let us know when he wishes to go outside or to come in. If we happen to be sleeping the day away at 5am he simply jumps on us to get our attention. He, of course, knows he is helping us in two ways. First, he needs to let us know that it is time for his morning constitutional. I guess he can't understand how we forget this each day. I'm sure he wants to shout to us that it happens at the same time every day....How do you forget this. Are we like Drew Barrymore in 50 First Dates or something??????? He also wants to make sure we are up and about to enjoy the day. Wouldn't it be so sad if we missed the best part of the day!

He even devised a way to alert us to let him in when we can't hear his precious little yowls. He simply launches himself at our front door and gives it a swift little karate kick with all fours. The sound sure gets our attention. (Last night Ya Ya thought someone was trying to break in.....I think Simon has a special little place in his heart for Ya Ya.)

He is even as conscientious about our bedtime as he is our awakening time. When it is time for bed he is always there to alert us. A nice stare and a few yowls are usually all it takes to let us know it is time to stop all our daily chores and rest in our beds. Of course no bedtime is complete until Simon has positioned himself right beside me so that I have no problems lending my palm to pillow his little head. Of course, this is only after he has been petted for at least 100 hundred strokes. And you thought this only applied to brush strokes to your hair!!!!

What would we do without our little Simonator? I guess we are pretty lucky he found us.