Have I ever told you about Wren and the Forbidden Drawers? (I know I haven’t, because this is brand new!)
Joh has a tall set of drawers that currently has books piled up on top of it. It is just barely too tall for Wren to confidently jump up to, as she is blind and cannot see it clearly, but she has been curious about it for some time.
Then she finally got up the confidence to jump up, while Joh and I were sitting in bed right beside it. Joh put her back down.
Wren prepared to jump again.
Me: No.
Wren looked around at me, confused.
Wren: Meow?
Me: No, Wren.
Wren’s tail flicked.
Wren: Meow!
Wren crouched and wiggled, preparing to jump.
Me: No!
Wren fled into the other room, squeaking indignantly.
Ten minutes passed in which, I assume, Wren thought of nothing but the Forbidden Drawers. She returned with renewed determination, running straight to the drawers, and prepared to jump. No hesitation.
Me: No!
Wren: Mrrr. Mrrrow!
Her protests were getting growly.
Wren started to jump, but Joh blocked her with a foot.
Joh: No, Wren.
Wren: Mrrow! Mrr! Mrr!
This continued for a while. The key to getting kittens to stop doing stuff like this is to outlast them. Alas…
Joh: Wren. I know you want to go up there, but it’s a bit dangerous and you might knock over all my books. I can’t let you go up there alone.
Wren: Mrow?
Joh: But I can see this is important to you. So let’s compromise.
Wren: Mrr?
Joh proceeded to pick Wren up and supervise her on top of the Forbidden Drawers. She was not allowed to walk around, but just to get a look at the lay of the land.
Then Joh put her down, and Wren wandered off, seemingly content for the first time in about an hour.
Joh was delighted that Wren had responded positively to the compromise.
The next morning, there was a crash as our alarm went off. Wren had lept up onto the Forbidden Drawers and knocked over several books.
And that’s the story of how it’s very difficult to compromise with kittens. The End!
(This post was originally written for Mastodon, hence the formatting.)
—
This post, like all my work, is made with thanks to my supporters on ko-fi. If you’d like to support my writing, streaming, and creation, please do consider tipping or getting a membership.