Clemmy and Tarzana

Will and Hallie were so excited to see Clemmy when we visited Grandpa Paul and Grandma Brenda (with whom Clemmy now lives, and where she will likely live out her days) this summer. Clemmy, on the other hand, was not at all excited to see Will and Hallie.

Back away from the cat.

One of the reasons Clemmy still lives with Grandpa and Grandma, after she and Duke first took up temporary residence with them (while we tried to sell our house in Ann Arbor) two years ago, is that she doesn't like kids. She was fine with - not necessarily nice to, but fine with - Tom and me, but once Will joined the mix Clemmy turned sour and spent most of her time trying to escape our warm, comfortable house for the wild and crazy world outside the side door. She also really likes Grandpa Paul - to the point that she obsesses over him and monopolizes his attention - so that, coupled with the fact that she doesn't like kids and the speculation that Will is allergic to cats, led to her temporary residence becoming her permanent residence. And this makes the kids sad.

When we arrived in Madison, Will and Hallie ran into the house, bursting with love for Clemmy. She hissed at them and darted down to the basement. They were crushed.

We were there for a month, and I honestly can't remember Clemmy letting either of them even pet her. She'd let me pet her, but only after everyone else had gone to bed; I could tell she remembered me, but would only come near me after my dad - her first choice of human companion - was no longer an option.

Hallie in particular was really sad about her relationship with Clemmy, until she met Tarzana.

Tarzana belongs to Helen/Heaven, and is like the most child-friendly cat on the planet. Hallie told me on more than one occasion that she was going to bring Tarzana home with us on the plane, and once I caught her dragging Tarzana across the alley from Helen's house into my parents' backyard.  My mom even warned Helen's mom that while we would try to prevent it, we were fairly certain Hallie was going to try to steal Tarzana and that if ever they couldn't find their beloved pet they should come knocking at my parents' backdoor.

The kids have started talking about pets quite a bit, probably because I take them to the Puppy Store at the mall at least every other week, but I'm still pretty against bringing one into the house right now.  I'm mildly allergic to dogs, Will's mildly allergic to cats, and I'm not too keen on adding extra work and cleaning to my already-crazy daily schedule.  We're thinking about getting Will a goldfish for his birthday though; maybe we'll name it Tarzana.