Way Back When

I guess you could say I'm going a bit out of my comfort zone for today's post. I don't usually post photos of myself online. But, the recent Dr. Seuss Day, also National Read Across America Day, sort of brought back some memories for me. Like this one:

That happens to be young me and my angel boy Sammy. Sammy was my angel Rosie's litter mate, and although he suddenly passed away from an underlying heart condition at the age of 5, he and I spent the entirety of that time being best buddies.

As you can see in that photo up there, Sammy made a fantastic reading buddy. And as you can also see, I not only wore giant glasses as a child, but also an eye patch. Yep, that is me wearing an eye patch. Growing up, I had a vision condition (it's called amblyopia, in case you were looking for an ophthalmology lesson today) that caused my right eye to have difficulty focusing. To remedy that, a patch was put over the good left eye in order to spur the weak right one to work just a little harder at doing the job it was intended to do. So, eye patch it was.

As a kid, I was very self-conscious about wearing an eye patch around town. Sammy didn't mind, Rosie didn't mind, my parents and sister didn't mind, but my child's mind always worried that other humans would stop and stare at the pirate child that I was. Now, as an adult, I look at the photos and think, Eh, it could have been worse. And then I do stuff like this:

I don't know whether my child self or my adult self has a more reasonable reaction to wearing a patch as a child. Well, anyway, argh!

That there drawing is in honor of my angel Sammy. It's also our contribution to Athena's always fun and fantastic Caturday Art blog hop.

Happy Caturday to one and all!

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Our Tip of the Day:

When it comes to mixing children and animals, don't forget that training might very well be needed on both the part of the two-legged and the four-legged little ones. Discuss or demonstrate to children the proper treatment of animals prior to bringing a new pet home. Likewise, try to ensure at least basic training for dogs and cats prior to introducing them to new children. Train both children and animals in the proper and gentle way to handle each other, such as by teaching children to gently stroke an animal rather than hit or pull fur, and by training dogs not to jump and cats not to nibble or bite, even in play. When proper, gentle behavior is succeeded, don't forget that positive reinforcement for good behavior can work for both human and furry children. On the other hand, if either the child or the animal gets too worked up or acts uncomfortable, remove either one or both of them and let them have a break from each other. For reasons such as this, always monitor first meetings between children and animals, and continue to supervise them for as long as it takes to ensure that they have taken to one another, get along, and understand the proper behaviors around each other. This all being said, while proper teaching and training can indeed work wonders, it is also still important to realize that all humans and animals have different personalities and preferences. Some children may simply have more trouble taking to animals, just as some dogs and cats simply may not be the biggest fans of children. So, before bringing a new pet home or in any way mixing children and animals, please always first take a step back, analyze your household and familial situation, and then make a well-informed decision.