one of lifes little mysteries

i always knew my cats were strange .. this morning it was confirmed  
just a little background .. sometime in august of last year my daughter got herself a hamster, with his long hair, we decided his name would be Samson  
when my niece came to live with us for a few months at christmas, my sister was kind enough to offer to keep the hamster with her .. he'd been driving my daughter crazy since his cage was kept in her bedroom .. his nocturnal exercise had kept her awake several nights  
when we helped my sister move saturday we brought Samson back home again .. deciding to keep his cage in the living room to allow my daughter to sleep at night  
this morning i woke early to find 3 of our cats, sitting in the living room near the TV, all intent on watching something together  
as i walked into the living room, turned on the light .. here comes Samson, walking calm as can be, BETWEEN the cats on the living room floor .. at which time they lined up behind him, all walking towards the dining room  
it was the strangest parade i've ever seen !!  
not knowing how long he'd been roaming the living room or knowing exactly how long his luck would hold out, i quickly decided against the idea of stopping to grab my camera to take a picture, instead i scooped him up and turned to put him back into his cage, surprised his cage remained perched on my daughters desk intact .. the little door to his cage was latched firmly closed  
the mystery remains as to how, exactly, he managed to escape from his cage .. i seriously doubt he stopped to latch the door shut after his escape .. doubting even more seriously that the little guy had the strength to latch the door closed
why our cats were content to watch him from a distance rather than pounce on him is another mystery .. i'm sure the fact that he was walking slowly rather than running contributes to the fact that he's still alive  
as i'm typing this journal entry, the 3 cats are sitting, waiting patiently beneath his cage .. i suppose waiting for him to come out and play again
i have a feeling theres a life lesson in there somewhere

Tough love vs spanking

Much has been said about "tough love" for misbehaving children.

Most of America's populace thinks it very improper to spank children, so my spouse and I have tried other methods to control our kids when they have one of "those moments".

One that we found very effective is for me just take the child for a car ride and talk.

They usually calm down and stop misbehaving after our little car ride together.

I've included the photo below of one of my sessions, with our son, in case you would like to use the technique.

Its very effective!

  
hehe sorry i can't take credit for this .. or give credit to the author as i received it via email but i thought it humorous enough to share !!