Today is my middle brother, Caleb's, birthday. So, this story is for you!
When my brother Caleb was around 6, my brother Jared was 11, and I was 14 we owned an outdoor cat. Because of this, the cat was quite filthy. He was completely white when he was clean, but he had become a sort of North Carolina, clay brown color from being outside all of the time. Well, my brother Jared and I decided to give the cat a bath one afternoon. (I don't know where our parents were!) Our plan consisted of soaping up a dry cat and then filling the bath tub up with water real deep and tossing the cat into it. Sounds good,doesn't it? Well, even we knew at the time, that something didn't seem quite right about our plan, so we decided that it would be best for our younger brother, Caleb, to stay outside the bathroom during this cat dunking process. Of course, he didn't want to be left out and was making such a fit over it, that we finally gave in and let him come in. All three of us, and our cat, were crammed into our bathroom with the door securely shut so the cat couldn't escape. We somehow managed to get the cat all soapy, but he did escape once or twice and jog around the bathroom. The cat was definitely not feeling good. It had come time to "rinse" the cat in the tub which was left up to me since I was the oldest. Now mind you, at this point in time, I was cloked in my heaviest, puffiest winter coat which made me look like the Michelin man and my thickest gloves thinking to protect myself from the claws of the cat. My brother Jared had followed suit. Come to think of it, that is probably why the bathroom felt so crowded! It was dead middle of summer and my brother Caleb was just wearing a pair of shorts trying to keep cool. I manage to get the soapy, wriggly, nervous cat gathered up into my hands. My brothers and I clearly intend to bolt out of the bathroom and close the door real fast after throwing the cat into the tub. We wanted to make sure the cat stayed shut up because we were pretty sure that the cat would at least need a double dunk. I slowly crept over to the top of the tub and suspended the cat above the water. I am issuing a warning to my brother to stay back, but they are way to curious to listen to that advice. They are peering around me creeping in on either side. I drop the cat into the water. As fast as I could drop that cat into the water, it rocketed out faste. It had gone WILD! It seemed like that cat leaped right off of the surface of the water without even getting wet. The cat bounced off of the toilet, onto the vanity, and then promptly to the next highest place it could find- which happened to be my youngest brother's bare back. You have never heard so much racket as three kids going crazy, one screaming from having a cat stuck by it's claws onto their naked back. Caleb was hollering louder than the cat was screeching. We managed to get the frozen cat off of my brother's back, but needless to say, we didn't finish bathing the cat. We learned our lesson...always dress up like the Michelin Man when bathing a cat using the soap and dunk method! We never bathed our cat again.
Caleb, do you have any scars from this or just a scarred memory? Fun memories, fun times...at least for me and Jared! Happy Birthday brother! We love you, really.
When my brother Caleb was around 6, my brother Jared was 11, and I was 14 we owned an outdoor cat. Because of this, the cat was quite filthy. He was completely white when he was clean, but he had become a sort of North Carolina, clay brown color from being outside all of the time. Well, my brother Jared and I decided to give the cat a bath one afternoon. (I don't know where our parents were!) Our plan consisted of soaping up a dry cat and then filling the bath tub up with water real deep and tossing the cat into it. Sounds good,doesn't it? Well, even we knew at the time, that something didn't seem quite right about our plan, so we decided that it would be best for our younger brother, Caleb, to stay outside the bathroom during this cat dunking process. Of course, he didn't want to be left out and was making such a fit over it, that we finally gave in and let him come in. All three of us, and our cat, were crammed into our bathroom with the door securely shut so the cat couldn't escape. We somehow managed to get the cat all soapy, but he did escape once or twice and jog around the bathroom. The cat was definitely not feeling good. It had come time to "rinse" the cat in the tub which was left up to me since I was the oldest. Now mind you, at this point in time, I was cloked in my heaviest, puffiest winter coat which made me look like the Michelin man and my thickest gloves thinking to protect myself from the claws of the cat. My brother Jared had followed suit. Come to think of it, that is probably why the bathroom felt so crowded! It was dead middle of summer and my brother Caleb was just wearing a pair of shorts trying to keep cool. I manage to get the soapy, wriggly, nervous cat gathered up into my hands. My brothers and I clearly intend to bolt out of the bathroom and close the door real fast after throwing the cat into the tub. We wanted to make sure the cat stayed shut up because we were pretty sure that the cat would at least need a double dunk. I slowly crept over to the top of the tub and suspended the cat above the water. I am issuing a warning to my brother to stay back, but they are way to curious to listen to that advice. They are peering around me creeping in on either side. I drop the cat into the water. As fast as I could drop that cat into the water, it rocketed out faste. It had gone WILD! It seemed like that cat leaped right off of the surface of the water without even getting wet. The cat bounced off of the toilet, onto the vanity, and then promptly to the next highest place it could find- which happened to be my youngest brother's bare back. You have never heard so much racket as three kids going crazy, one screaming from having a cat stuck by it's claws onto their naked back. Caleb was hollering louder than the cat was screeching. We managed to get the frozen cat off of my brother's back, but needless to say, we didn't finish bathing the cat. We learned our lesson...always dress up like the Michelin Man when bathing a cat using the soap and dunk method! We never bathed our cat again.
Caleb, do you have any scars from this or just a scarred memory? Fun memories, fun times...at least for me and Jared! Happy Birthday brother! We love you, really.
Danielle, this is hilarious!
ReplyDeleteWe certainly get a good laugh about it every time we talk about it! Thanks for enjoying it!
ReplyDeleteHow funny! I was so glad to read (on facebook) that you have a blog! I love finding new blogs to read and especially when they belong to good friends that I'd love to keep up with more! You can check out our blog too for the interesting events of the Gilberts!
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