The similarities between a child and a cat are endless. Cats need guidance, boundaries, and love, just like children do. They test your patience, push limits, are mischievous in the most innocent ways, and insist on their way or the highway. They're snuggly, adorable, and wholesome all around. They teach us a lot too, like patience, empathy, and unconditional affection. Their vulnerability in the world makes us attached to them, instigates the tender, nurturing part of us.
So what could be cuter and more wholesome than a cat persistently trying to get into a daycare? It wasn't a normal day at the childcare center. A worker finds that a little white and orange cat is trying to enter the playground through a fence that's kept open for all the parents to pick up their children. This particular day of children running around, laughter bouncing off the walls, and the usual chaos of crayons, lone socks, and mismatched shoes, a little stray wanders past. He wanted to play in the playground with the children, and honestly, who could blame him? He just wants to taste a bit of childhood whimsy. Though they got the cat out the first time, this little guy was not going to take no for an answer, just like a kid wouldn't. They shut the door, but the cat remained meowing and scratching at it.
The worker was about to go home for the day when another coworker came up with the cat and a toddler, saying he needs to do something with the kitty. He takes it home, and decides to foster it. He's already made vet appointments, and even though he plans on fostering the little guy, he claims he's already grown attached!
Cats are a lot like children in moments like this. They observe first, testing boundaries, learning the layout of their world. They are endlessly curious, unpredictable, and somehow perfectly attuned to the energy of those around them. The daycare worker knelt down, offering a hand, but the cat approached on his own terms, sniffing, circling, testing the air. Children, too, often reveal trust and affection in their own rhythm, not ours.
