Budget

Ever since my sweet daughter Tessa was born, my two cats have been severely neglected. Some parents of felines might think “What kind of attention do cats needs?” Well, mine are needy. I think I’ve always had a maternal instinct because I have nurtured and raised very affectionate, very loving, very high maintenance cats. I have celebrated their birthdays and hung stocking for them at Christmas time.

Now . . . they are lucky if they get food and fresh water.

I know, I know. It’s terrible! I’m a horrible person who deserves to be locked up and have PETA storm my home for a kitty search and rescue effort. There are days when Rob says to me, “Have you even fed the cats? When was the last time they had food?” And I look at him helplessly and say “I fed our daughter. Does that count?”

This past weekend, it got worse. We took the cats to their annual appointment . . . six months late. But whatever. We walk in and I’m holding Tessa, gavalanting around waiting for the praises to come “your daughter is so cute! She’s adorable! How old is she?!” Yet . . . there was none of that. None!

The receptionist just asked “Who are you here to see?” So we checked in and I continued to prance Tessa around showing her the fish in the aquarium and practicing her stellar standing skills. You may wonder about the cats. Where were the cats? They were in their crate. They were fine.

We go into the examining room and a nurse comes in. She asks lots of questions . . . but doesn’t ask about Tessa at all. What the hell? She just wants to know about the cats. What the hell? I mean I don’t want to totally brag or anything but my daughter is damn cute – why is nobody noticing?!

She tells us the doctor will be in soon. Maybe the doctor will notice.

The doctor comes in, takes one look at Tessa and becomes agitated. She asks us questions about the cats that turn into what I can only imagine a police interrogation to be like.

Doctor Meanie: We told you over a year ago that Elmore needed to lose weight, yet he’s gained a pound in the last year. What is he eating?

Us: Uhhh…Costco brand food.

Doctor Meanie: He really needs to be on a specialized food. I’ll recommend some up front.

Us: Do they have any that might be available at PetCo or PetsMart, a little bit cheaper?

Doctor Meanie: He really needs to lose weight. When feeding your cats, you need to separate them and feed them a cup each. You also need to bring Elmore back every two months to get weighed. Once he loses three pounds, you can go to a cheaper brand that promotes weight maintenance.

Us: Oh…

Doctor Meanie (looking at Tessa): I was around a kid once. A friend of mine and her 4-year old daughter lived with me for a few months. The girl would chase the cat around the house and wear him like a scarf. I felt terrible for the cat. But I guess some people parent that way.

Us: Oh…

Doctor Meanie: Do you want any special medications for the cats to help with their digestion?

Us: No.

Doctor Meanie left the room and Rob and I stared at each other.

Rob: Do you think we need to buy the food?

Me: Yes! They think we’re terrible pet parents. There is no way we’re going to get out of this. We have to at least buy a bag on the way out so we look redeemable.

We spent $200 and left the office. On the way out Rob says, “That tiny bag is the same price as the biggest bag at Costco.”

Yes. But at least we made an effort to be better pet parents.

We’re having a diaper dilemma in our house. For the most part we’re Pampers people but my husband Rob – the ever money-saver who drives to different grocery stores for their specials – has been experimenting with other diapers. When Tessa was just a couple weeks old, he bought some grocery-store brand diapers and proudly announced “If we like these, we’re going to save so much money!” Too bad we didn’t. We could barely even get them strapped on her because the sticky strips were . . . well, not sticky. At about five weeks, Tessa was wearing a Huggies diaper and urine leaked out and all over Rob. He wasn’t happy and demanded that we throw all of those away (though now me as the culprit to save money, I kept and used them when he was at work, making sure she was wearing a Pampers diaper by the time he got home). And now last weekend, Rob comes home with a mega-size of CostCo diapers that are the exact same size and shape as the Huggies ones he hated three months ago. Tess has yet to poop and stay within those darn diapers.

Executive summary: I’m going to order a box of Pampers and call it a day. All of this has almost made me reconsider cloth diapering.

Anyone else having a diaper fiasco?

My husband and I are on a budget. But isn’t everyone on a budget these days? Well, our budget allows us to have two date nights a month. We each “host” one of the nights and have $50 allotted. We can supplement with our allowance money – another story – but we get a $50 credit. We rarely use it.

The other night, for example, my husband made chicken parmesan for dinner, we watched a Netflix movie of his choice and then we sipped a bottle of Chianti by a home-built fire in our courtyard. We had a good meal, cuddle time on the couch and a romantic fire. I love date nights!

Sometimes we go to the movies and have ice cream afterwards – but nowadays that involves a babysitter, significantly digging into our $50 allotted to the evening’s activities. I sometimes use the cash to order sushi take-out and we eat in while watching a movie of my choice – hello bad movies like “Enchanted” or – during the holiday season – “Elf” on repeat.

I really like the way we set-up date night because it puts the responsibility on one person to be at least semi-creative and treat the other person to an evening where you don’t have to make any decisions – you can just sit back and enjoy. On the flip side, it allows one person to be able to call all the shots and the boss in me thinks that’s a blast.  Both sides of the coin are enjoyable and it also keeps us on a budget we can live with.