Friday, January 11, 2013

9 lbs of ALPHA

I was always the shortest/smallest kid in my class.  They used to line us up in height order: shortest in the front, tallest in the back.  As a result, I always had to hold the teachers hand walking down the hallway.  Funny thing was, I enjoyed holding the teachers hand.  It made me feel special.  Growing up was tough for me and whenever I had the opportunity to feel special and unique, I embraced it.  My fourth grade teacher once said "Great things come in small packages".  I made that motto my own.  I was feisty, tough, and quick.  None of the boys could catch me a recess and when they did, they regretted it.  I remember when John caught me a recess, twisted my arm and tried to kiss me.  I ended up in the principle's office with the paddle (yes, they used paddles for discipline) and  John ended up in the nurses office crying over a bloody nose.  I was a small package that was achieving great things.  
This describes my daughter's cat Jasmine; she is 9 pounds of tough.  Jasmine belongs to my oldest daughter.  My middle daughter has two dogs: Cooper and Avery.  They are both Shepherd mixes and neither one of them had figured out who is alpha.  That's okay because Jasmine has it covered.  When Cooper and Avery spend the day to play, Jasmine shines.  She growls when they come too close, she eats their dry food from their dish, she claws at them as they walk by and them she proceeds to lay down next to them and stare them in the eyes.  Cooper whines, he doesn't know what to do.  Avery lays down submissively and wags her tail.  Jasmine gets up and struts around them both, daring them to get in her way.  They don't.  She owns the roost.  She finds the softest place to make a home and get this:  She goes to sleep!  On the floor, on the couch, on a chair, anywhere.  The dogs are baffled.  They quietly sniff the air and gaze longingly in her direction, but they don't go near.
 Enjoy your nap, Princess Jasmine, my 9 lbs of alpha.  Tomorrow is a new day for small packages to shine.

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