Welcome back to another week of my Behind the Lens guest series. This week, we have a blogger from across the pond! Mary is mum to two 4-year-old twins and she blogs over at Carolina Twin Mom about Parenting and Lifestyle.

Here she shares her story about how the role of her cat Andy changed following the twins arrival.

Several of my friends who had experienced motherhood before me shared the same sentiment: pets are automatically “demoted” once children enter our lives.  Apparently, this is a rite of passage for most women.  Their beloved furry children become less important, less essential in their lives when there are tiny humans who depend on them for their very survival.

As for me, they could not have been more wrong.

My cat Andy never became less important or less essential.  His role did evolve, however.

When I was pregnant with my twins, I was on bedrest for almost 2 months.  During this very still time in my life, I had a constant companion.  Andy would snuggle his silky body up to my belly and send purrs that I am sure vibrated all the way through to my children.  His presence soothed my soul during an uneasy, uncertain time.

I never worried about how my furry son (who for 5 years only had to share me with my teenaged stepson and husband) would react toward having tiny tots screaming in our home.  He didn’t run from the screaming, but to it, seemingly to make sure that “everyone was OK.”  It became customary for him to share my lap or my husband’s with one of the children.

Even when the twins became mobile (gasp!), Andy did not keep his distance.  Patient and attentive, he continued to occupy the same space as the rest of the family, clumsy and heavy-handed though our toddlers were.

Our twins are 4 now, but still rambunctious as ever!  Nevertheless, at the end of the day when we all gather together in my daughter’s room to say prayers before their bedtime, each one of us often feels a gentle nudge from a silky head and hears that familiar purr.

No Andy was never “demoted.”  As I type these words (very gingerly since he is in my lap with his head draped over my hand), I am reflecting on all the ways that he has become more essential.  And I am so grateful that my children have had the opportunity to discover how much richer pets can make all of our lives.

You can find Mary online:

Blog | Twitter | Instagram | Pinterest

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