"The sun did not shine.
It was too wet to play.
So (I) sat in the house
All that cold, cold, wet day."
Who can ever forget those immortal opening lines from that beloved childhood book, "The Cat in the Hat" by Dr. Seuss? I am sure at one point in my life I could have recited it perfectly from memory based on the countless times I read it myself as a child, and the similarly numerous times I read it to my children.
My husband's parting words to me this morning were "Have fun!". In pondering that directive, my mind wandered to this book. Ah, what to do, what to do?
As an adult, I have begun looking at this delightful children's book in a new light. So who is this Cat in the Hat? Perhaps he isn't some energetic anthropomorphic cat that pays visit to a fortunate few; maybe he is our own imagination, creativity, mischieviousness even, and sense of fun all rolled into one? Perhaps life is more about tapping into our personal Cat in the Hat, rather than sitting, sitting, sitting waiting for outside influences to show up and entertain us.
As a mother of several children I often felt it was my role to be the Cat and come up with ways to keep everyone happy and engaged. Eventually they learned to make their own fun most of the time, or found ways to be occupied with outside interests. From time to time though, I think they still look to me when they are bored, or sad, or fidgety, or broke...
I am the woman who loves her life. I needn't sit and pine and wait for life to sweep me up in some grand adventure. I am quite capable of making my own fun, discovering my own talents and diversions, sharing my ideas and energy with others, as wanted. I am my own Cat in the Hat.
I'm not gonna lie though. It sure would be nice sometimes if there were a magical machine to come along behind me and clean up my messes.
So when my husband comes home and asks what I did today, perhaps I will look up innocently from a book, seated in my favorite chair in front of the fire, shrug my shoulders and say "not much", but you and I will know that perhaps the recently tidied home is just a ruse that shows no sign of the mayhem that really occurred during my day...;-)
