PHL 205H

happy 2011! evie's resolution was to show siri the alpha between the two of them by scratching her. luckily, it's a superficial scratch on the arm, but she managed to break skin under siri's fleece sleeve. we don't know what went down, but are suspicious that siri probably wanted to snuggle with evie (siri got lots of love and patience from my mom's cat, savannah over the past two weeks in oregon and has tried to give evie hugs since we returned to sf), and evie had enough and decided to teach her a lesson. siri and evie were alone when it happened, so evie probably felt bold enough to show siri who's boss. siri's retelling goes something like this, "evie scratch siri. siri want hug evie."

ever since the incident, i've been thinking a lot about an ethics class i took in college, taught by dr. lani roberts. i remember distinctly one lesson pertaining to ethical treatment toward animals, especially since they are in essence perpetual small children. if that's the case, why do we blame small children when they (re)act to animals, and expect them to know better than animals? if we are to treat animals as semi-peers, then why do we not expect them to burden some of the consequences? one could argue that it's because animals cannot articulate or express themselves. i refute that argument since animals are just as capable of thinking, and articulate their emotions in different ways. for example, evie knows she did something wrong and has been looking to jeff and me for forgiveness all day. but, she continues to express her annoyance at siri by meowing at her as soon as she sees siri excitedly approach. alternatively, one could argue that humans have bigger brains and can rationalize better than animals. i buy that, but at age two, it seems that the human brain is comparable to that of an animal.

so, who do we blame, and who do we punish? for whom do we feel sorry? the child who wants to give love to the cat, and is now scared of her, or the cat who is afraid and jealous of the affectionate child? as i reflect upon PHL 205H, i also remember the numerous times over our time in oregon when we told siri to be nice to mollie the dog who wanted to lick her face, or to respect the space that savannah the cat needed. no one bothered to tell mollie the dog to stop trying to lick siri's face because she doesn't like it, or tell savannah the cat that she should spread out elsewhere in siri's presence. if they are in fact developmental peers, why do we expect more from one and not the other?

neither siri nor evie have been punished for today's incident. and, neither one necessarily deserves some form of punishment. we've talked to both of them, but i feel sorry for my child. i feel sorry that she was scolded and warned over the past several weeks, and we didn't do the same to the animals. i feel sorry for her wound, and her newfound hesitance toward evie.

in the end, i acknowledge that siri will one day surpass evie in intelligence, ability to think, reason, and to articulate her emotions. but for now, they are developmental equals, and i will parent them equally.