Today’s Bloganuary post is based on the prompt: “If you could make your pet understand one thing, what would it be?” Read on for my thoughts.

We have two cats, Pepper (orange tabby) and Penny (calico). They are adorable, and our son Oliver loves them. He expresses this love by yelling at the top of his voice anytime they enter the room.

The cats aren’t receptive to his loud expression of love. It frightens them, yet they keep coming back. Go figure.

But let’s get back to the topic at hand. If I could make our pets understand one thing, it would be that when we sleep, they should sleep. I routinely get up in the middle of the night to give them wet food because Penny demands it, and we don’t want her piercing screams to wake up Oliver. In other words, the cats have trained me to do what they want when they want it.

Cats are nocturnal, so this isn’t an uncommon complaint. I know they’ll never learn (or care) what I think about when they should sleep, but a guy can always dream.