Why Not?

"Mom, can we ride the go-kart in the grass?"

"Why not? We live in the country." Who needs a perfect yard out in the country anyway?

"Mom, can I raise chickens and sell their eggs?" 

"Why not? We live in the country." Fresh, homegrown food is one of the most obvious reasons for living in the county.

"Mom, can we explode cans of deodorant in our bonfire?" 

"Why not? We live in the country." Nothing is close enough to be damaged.

"Mom, can my friends park their cars in our front yard?"

"Why not? We live in the country." The neighbors won't complain, like they did at our last house.

"Why not? We live in the country?"

It has become my motto.

So, when I adopted two tiny kitties it was no big deal because we live in the country. There was a black boy and a gray girl, and I thought they would make adorable black and gray kittens when they grew up. Part of life in the country is things like litters of kittens, and I was excited for my kids to experience that. But then the black one died, and it was tragic for us all. We had fallen in love with him. The tears were flowing freely, and parents do crazy things when that happens. 

"My sister's cat had kittens that are about 7 weeks old," Mike told me, holding the phone away from his face.

"Ask her if she has any we could have," I told him, anxious to stop the flow of tears in our house.

"She says she has two left that aren't spoken for. Do you want two?"

"Why not? We live in the country."

So the tears stopped and two orange kittens joined Koda, the gray kitten. But I worried that orange and and gray cats would make ugly kittens. I want my kids to experience a litter of kittens, but then I want to give them all away. So they have to be cute.

"I found a black male kitten for free," Lori, my sister-in-law told me. "Should we go get it?"

"Why not? We live in the country."

So we brought home an adorable black boy kitten to make beautiful kittens with Koda. We loved him instantly.

"Remind me again why we have four kittens?" Mike said.

"The two orange ones are because we were sad when the black kitten died. And the new black one is to have cute kittens with Koda."

"But he won't have kittens with Koda," Mike argued.

"Why not? They are from different litters so they're not related."

"That's not the problem. The problem is mostly that Koda is a boy."

"WHAT????"

Now we need a gray female.