He has a hairy butt and licks himself too much

My daughter has a cat now. I don't know what I was thinking. It was Christmas time and she kept asking me for one, and in a moment of weakness I gave in and said, "yes." We got her an orange and white tabby kitten from the kill shelter. She named him "Diego." I call him "Cat."

Thing is, the cat has a strange personality. My son is flat out abusive to the cat in a way that any two year old with a cat would be. We knew having a toddler around the cat would be a problem at first, but I figured after a couple of scratches the cat would teach Ethan how to show proper respect to the new house pet. Yet the cat won't touch my son. He can drag him by the tail, push him down the stairs, lay on top of him, you name it and the cat won't so much as hiss at the boy.

My daughter on the other hand adores the cat and is the most gentle thing in the world with it, yet come to me crying with a scratch from the hell beast every other day. Some days she's afraid to walk past it, calling out to her little brother to come scare it from her path. I don't know what kind of intimacy issues this cat has, but it seems to lash out at those that love it and patiently put up with those that mean it harm. Sadly it reminds me of some people that I used to know.

The thing about it that amazes me, though, is how Hannah reacts to this all. She keeps loving the thing. Oh, she has her days where she's asked me if we can give it away and steers clear of it any chance she gets, but nine days out of ten she's pouring affection on her emotionally damaged pet. She hugs it, kisses it, pets it, feeds it, and talks to it. When it hurts her she runs away from it for a bit, but always comes back to it eventually to resume the loving. I think she gets it from her mother.

My daughter isn't dumb or a slow learner, she just has the heart of a child that knows what love is and wants to give it in return, even if it is to something that doesn't deserve it. There is a parable in that.