Hello from the house of unhappy bodies. 

My almost 5 year old is still sick. She is missing a birthday party today, and the TV is back on, for the 4th day. I really really hate having the TV on, especially during the day. 

My dog just came inside, limping, then holding up her bad leg, the leg that she has a brace for because she tore her CCL (same as ACL) 6 years ago. 

My 14 year old yet exceedingly healthy cat is looking crouchy in that old cat way.

And I forgot to change the baby’s diaper before he fell asleep for his first nap, so he is on me, still sleeping, but crying, angry.

My husband is working today, so we are all here, stuck in the middle of summer. No birthday parties, no healthy dogs, no wading pools with the oversized unicorn float. Maybe later I can take the baby out for a walk around the block. 4.75 is too young to be left home alone, so I bring a walkie talkie and give her one. Sometimes she calls in and asks for toast, or for me to change the channel. 

It is days like today when I’m really not sure where I am, inside my body. I am exclusively mother. The baby goes to sleep and I prepare for the next round. I clean the black gunk out of his chew toy. (What is it? Can I call it a chew toy?) “Watch the baby,” I say to the disabled dog when the baby wakes up and I have to help my daughter find the toilet paper. “Watch the baby,” I say again when I put him on the deck. My dog lifts her head and groans, and I hurry inside to smear some almond butter onto a rice cake. It’s not what I want to be eating, but really, what else is there? Really, what difference does it make?

One thing I did do was update my computer last night. This will pave the way to smooth writing. 

I’m also up to date on answering litter box questions on the cat forum that I frequent. After I figured out how to get my illegally urinating cat back to using her litter box, I made a website, a sort of “How to.” This is my life’s purpose, I decided. Helping people get their cats back to using a litter box. After my journey with Tiny, I had more information than anyone, more experience, more strategies. There was a hole in the cat toileting world, a hole that I could fill. I was going to be a cat urine influencer. 

After trying to publicize tinyinherbox.com on instagram, and on Facebook, and, ultimately failing and falling short, I contacted the moderators of the forum. Maybe, I could write an article, or maybe I could have a “Cat Urine Corner” where I answered cat owner’s litter box questions. No, you cannot they said, but after you can put your website in your signature. So, I did. And now I log on to the site each day, searching for posts about cat urine. I have good answers. Unique solutions. Hopefully I’m helping some people in a way that no one else can.