Oh Dear. . .

The next-door neighbor's cat had a kitten not too long ago. This has been both a blessing and a curse. A blessing because the kids play with it all the time (letting us off the hook about getting our own pet) and a curse because it keeps sneaking into our house or garage every time the door opens, leaving me to run around screaming and trying to block him from entering--usually when I'm trying to go somewhere, and I'm late, and now I have to spend 5 extra minutes chasing the thing back out. Annoying, to say the least.

Yesterday, Dan was out mowing the lawn, and as a result, the garage was left open for some time. Grant followed him outside to observe all the manly lawn maintenance. When he tired of watching, he went to help himself to a chocolate milk from the outside fridge. I think that was when his little brain was hit with inspiration. . .

Dan finished up not too long after Grant left, and came inside the garage looking for Grant. As he shut the garage door, he turned to Grant:

"Did the cat get in here?"

Grant, sucking down the chocolate milk he knew he should have asked for before consuming, nonchalantly replies, "Nope."

Garage door down and cat safely (according to our four-year-old) not inside, Dan prepares to enter the house.

He stops in his tracks as he hears a small, muffled, "mew!"

"Grant, is the cat in here?! Dan asks again, slightly more concerned.

Grant takes another casual drag from his chocolate milk box before calmly replying, "He's not in the fridge. . ."

Cut to Dan racing to open the fridge to find that, not only is the neighbor's cat in our refrigerator (!), he is shoved into one of the vegetable bins (!!!).

I can only imagine what my reaction would have been if Dan hadn't happened upon this whole scene when he did, and I had been left to find the cat, days later, when I went out to get a new gallon of milk or something. I mean, are we raising a serial killer here, or do other four-year-old's do things like this?!

Too bad we didn't get a picture--that would have been totally inappropriate, I know--but I mean, if the cat wasn't in such obvious distress, it would have been a pretty funny sight to see. I admit, Dan and I did chuckle over the retelling of it (albeit not in front of Grant). And on the bright side, this experience has solved one unpleasant situation--I don't think I'll ever find that cat in my garage again.