Miraculous Transformations

Many of you know that I volunteer each Friday morning at the Safehaven Humane Society.  I arrive at 8 AM (7:45 during kitten season) and help out in the cat room.  I have been doing this since 2008 and am now quite competent at scooping litter pans, feeding and watering  kitties and sanitizing cat kennels.  When all this is done, we sweep and mop.  We must be finished by 11 when the staff take their lunch breaks.  At this time of year, the aforementioned kitten season, we often have upwards of 60 cats and it takes the full 3 hours to complete our tasks and get ready to receive the public when we open at noon.

Our kennels are two-room cages with a sliding door that separates the living area from the litter box area.  When we sanitize a kennel and get it ready for the day with fresh bedding, litter, toys, food and water, we remove the cat from the living area and they must remain in the litter box area for at least 10 minutes while the antiseptic spray does it's job and we can then wipe off the surfaces and prepare the kennel for the cat's comfort.  Most of the time, the cats are quite cooperative.........

But then there were Meow-Meow, Lars and Bella.  These cats, who were not related by blood nor geography, had one thing in common.  They were all terrors who would bite and scratch any staff member or volunteer who had come to help and serve them.  They weren't bad cats, but they all had "issues" that caused me to feel very hesitant to interact with them.  None of them would suffer to be held or cuddled.  The best I could do was to scruff them by the back of the neck (which is very humane as long as the cat is not too large and one supports their bottom at the same time) and transfer them to their litter box area, trying not to get too scratched up.  Often, I would just leave them in their living area and clean around them as they batted and swatted and hissed at me.  Ungrateful wretches, each one of them!

One day, I arrived at Safehaven and I found Meow-Meow was missing from her kennel.  I knew she couldn't possibly have been adopted, given her temperament, so I sought her out.  I found she had been relocated to a larger space.  We have "meet and greet" rooms which are the size of a large bathroom or walk-in closet.  They are furnished and meant to provide a comfortable space for a cat and a potential adopter to hang out and get to know each other.  Meow-Meow had been moved into such a room along with her cot, bedding, toys, food and water.  She was quite set up in there.  I went in warily and sat down on her loveseat and waited to see what she would do.  Wonder of wonders, she stalked over and rubbed her cheek on my leg, then hopped up on the seat next to me and flopped over on her back demanding to be petted!  She rubbed herself along my thigh, contracted and stretched out, rubbed her head on my hand and just generally loved me up and down!  Who was this imposter?! This was the new, improved Meow-Meow!  A total love bug!  Meow-Meow is still at Safehaven awaiting her forever family, but now she is really ready to go!  She is one of my favorites and I spend extra time with her.

Lars and Bella both have similar stories.  They were both very feisty and crabby and wretched.  Then they were each given their own big room and the same transformation occurred.  These cats are now also extremely cuddly, lovable and non-lethal.  Granted, neither Meow-Meow nor Bella like to be held, per se, but they like to be as close to you as possible and they love to be loved.   Lars likes to be on your lap and he will purr and purr.  His purr sounds a bit asthmatic so we had him checked out and he's fine.  We joke that he's just a bit rusty at being content.  The only change these three felines experienced  to create such tremendous alteration of their personalities was a change of environment.

The environment has a profound affect on us sentient beings.  I have a friend who cannot abide a certain brew-pub because of the depressing gray interior.  I cannot settle down at home and enjoy my leisure time until I have swept the floors.  I am disturbed and distracted by the dog hair and dirt.  For some people, it's fluorescent lighting that upsets them.  My husband is very sensitive to ambient odors.  And on the flip side, we also respond positively to aspects of the environment.  Realtors have known for decades that the smell of cinnamon puts folks in a happy mood.  Modern-day tech start-ups aim to have lively environments that compel employees to want to put in extra time at work.  Studies show that having dogs in the workplace encourages people to stay longer in the office.  The popularity of feng shui and Marie Kondo support the premise of the influence of the environment on our well-being.

If you saw the recent video of our children participating in "Walking on the Line" in our classroom, you may have been surprised to see 23 pre-schoolers moving so calmly and purposefully in unison and without adult direction.  When parents observe our classroom they are often shocked to witness the focus and intentionality, the consideration and kindness, the order and competence of some of our students, being that the kids are so young.  Many parents notice a marked difference in their child right at the threshold of the classroom.  The child may be fidgety or provocative in the hall, but as soon as they enter the classroom, they may seem imbued with a new dignity and gravitas.

A Montessori Prepared Environment (as we call the classroom and school yard) is scientifically designed to elicit certain behaviors from children.  There are few large areas that encourage running and horseplay.  Children must maneuver carefully around the work rugs, tables and chairs.  The materials are beautiful, sequential and invitingly displayed so that children initiate their own activity.  The furnishings are child-size and manageable.  The lessons are presented with little extraneous language so that the child may focus on the visual (unless its a language lesson!)  The adults in the room model the Grace and Courtesy that we want the children to embrace.  We carry tables with a partner even though we are able to heave the whole thing right up over our heads!  We carry things only one or two at a time because we know the children are not capable of being careful with more than that. A million little things add up to the sum of this environment which truly transforms us.

I found the story of these three cats really inspiring because obviously, no one reasoned with these cats to elicit these new, pro-social and beneficial attitudes and behaviors from them.  They simply responded naturally and positively to a new environment created with their needs in mind.  That is what your children are doing here at school and I am just as inspired, if not more so, by them!  If ever you are desirous of creating a change in your family, I invite you to consider taking a critical look at your environment.  Miraculous changes can occur.