Our Mama Cat

Hermione, our girl cat, has become quite the little mama cat. No, not real kittens. But the kids! The pattern has been emerging for several weeks now. During the day, if one of the kids begins to cry, Hermione comes running from wherever she has been sleeping to check things out, which usually consists of circling and sniffing us a few times. For the most part, during the day, she sleeps out of our general vicinity, but sometimes she comes down looking for attention and sits in my lap (and she can hear me sit, thereby making a lap, from anywhere in the house), calmly, resolvedly, patiently letting the kids (try to gently but often not quite) rub and pet her. I imagine it's the same look she would give a litter of kittens crawling all over her. She is always with us for tuck-in, as soon as the lights dim and we begin "happy thoughts" and final kisses. She'll wander the room until it's time to leave. At night, anytime one of the kids wakes up, either to go to the bathroom or to request something else, she shoots past the open door circles the room completely, going under the beds, and then emerges to leave when we do. Once in awhile, none of us, her included, are paying attention and we forget her and she gets locked in--sometimes she stays for a bit but always she meows to be let out eventually. Ah, here she is now (really, it's true, not just a writer's trick). No doubt her kids will soon follow.