Scarface
Straight from the mean streets of San Francisco, may I introduce you to Baby Scarface.
On his first day at his new child care, Riley ingratiated himself to his provider's cat by picking her up for a big hug. The cat was none too excited to be scooped up by a stranger and scratched the heck out of Riley's face. Undaunted, Riley put down the cat and started petting her like she was his best friend.
At least he wasn't traumatized. But I'm gonna be if those scratches turn into scars or if my one-year-old just earned himself cat scratch fever.
Seriously, if any parents out there have tips for setting limits with animals, please let me know. Otherwise, I suspect this will not be the last time one of Riley's "friends" leaves a mark.
On his first day at his new child care, Riley ingratiated himself to his provider's cat by picking her up for a big hug. The cat was none too excited to be scooped up by a stranger and scratched the heck out of Riley's face. Undaunted, Riley put down the cat and started petting her like she was his best friend.
At least he wasn't traumatized. But I'm gonna be if those scratches turn into scars or if my one-year-old just earned himself cat scratch fever.
Seriously, if any parents out there have tips for setting limits with animals, please let me know. Otherwise, I suspect this will not be the last time one of Riley's "friends" leaves a mark.
Hi Catherine! I have three cats and both of my kids have been too rough with them. One seems to be a gluten for punishment and allows herself to get into way too many toddler torture scenarios. The other two are not at all fond of toddler torture and do their best to steer clear. But they have both been subject to my kids' abuse a handful of times. None of my cats have ever so much as tried to scratch either of my kids, and honestly I wouldn't keep a cat around that did.
ReplyDeleteI think the problem is with the cat, not Riley. Yes, it's important to teach toddlers to be gentle with animals, but I wouldn't recommend doing that with a cat that scratches. Maybe ask child care to keep the cat in another room when Riley is there?
Usually the clawing sets the limits . . .
ReplyDeleteOMG I would have killed someone! What happened to his old daycare? Since we have the doggies we have been able to teach Alex "gentle" and are working on it with Sophie.
ReplyDeleteAngelica, you crack me up. You are such a fierce mama bear! :) We got really tired of the long commute (50 minutes!) to Riley's last child care so we found something local -- one block away! The commute was killing him after a long day. He loved it there but he's so much happier now to get more play time with us after work.
ReplyDeleteCara, your perspective was really helpful. I thought it was our fault until I saw your note! Thankfully the day care has offered to lock up the cat from now on.
Oh good! I'm glad to hear that Riley's cute little face will be safe from now on.
ReplyDelete