This is a Really Real Mental Health post.

I’m not one for routine.

At least, not one that I stick with.

Sometimes, when I wake up early, my morning routine is to take the pupper out, feed her, do the dishes from the day before, start dinner if it’s a crock-pot day or plan dinner if it’s not, make and peel hard boiled eggs once a week to feed the dog and ourselves.

It’s my quiet time with just the music and my repetitive process. Doing dishes and peeling eggs are both meditative for me.

But now there’s an addition to my routine.  We have the kitten.

So now I feed Siah first, and then Athena gets her wet kitten food.

And then Athena wants cuddle time.  She climbs from my desk to my leg, staring at me until I pick her up and let her curl up on my chest.

I’ll be sad when she stops fitting there.

She lays on my chest while I check the mail and Facebook, quietly purring until she falls asleep.  She typically wants to lay there for an hour or so, unless I have to move her first.

It’s a welcome addition to the routine.  Most of the day she prefers to sleep on the sofa, curled up next to whoever is sitting there.  When no one is on the sofa, she has some hiding spot to sleep, we haven’t figured out where yet (maybe under/in the sofa).

Having a kitten has been good for my mental health.  Having a cuddly kitten is even better.

The animals cause me to have a mini routine even when I don’t follow through with the rest of it.

And I don’t mind one bit.  Most of the time.