Look, I’m a super protective mother. Violently protective if properly provoked. I will do almost anything for my children (except make their beds and clean their bathroom).

So it took me by surprise when Maggie tested me yesterday.

Maggie was playing with Brie (that would be the mouse, named after the cheese, isn’t that cute?). Maggie had been playing with Brie ALL AFTERNOON, while we cleaned out Brie’s cage, Sophie’s cage, and other assorted icky, having to do with poop, outdoor chores.

Brie was getting tired of it. For a mouse, the little thing is very docile and patient. Hard qualities to find in a mouse. But, even this mouse has limits and Brie reached hers. She bit into Maggie’s finger in a clear attempt to let Maggie know that she had no intention of going head to head with Maggie’s rubber lizard.

I don’t blame her because this is how the Lizard ended up the LAST time Maggie played with it:

So Brie bit Maggie. Maggie FLIPPED out. You would have thought she had just survived a grizzly attack in the backyard or something! But, I grabbed her, Kate rescued Brie and I ran Maggie to the downstairs bathroom to wash her hand and put a Dora band aid on it.

Only I was stopped in my tracks. Er, well, the DOOR stopped in its tracks.

Something was in the way. It was my CAT, Liza, crammed into Molly’s cat carrier and then locked in the dark bathroom!!!!!

And, there is only ONE person who would do that. The one person who might be a bit fed up with assaults on her beanie baby animals, her bird, and her mouse. Maggie.

Needless to say, I did what ANY good mother would do. I left Maggie screaming in the hall to rescue my poor baby who had been trapped for at least TWO HOURS in the bathroom, probably longer. Do you have any idea how hard it is to console a child who has it in for your favorite person in the house cat? It’s DAMN hard. In fact it comes out a lot like this:

“Margaret Kay!!! WHAT did you DO to Liza?!?!?! Maggie! How many times have I told you NOT to do that… stop crying… do you hear me STOP crying… look what you DID to her!!! Stop crying….”

Which is why I let Mike do the consoling.

Yeah, yeah, I washed her hand and got it bandaged. The paper cut I had last week was way worse anyway.

Damn kids.