Why we mums are The Cat in the Hat

Having never really appreciated Dr Seuss’ books as a child, I’ve recently developed a love of his mind-expanding rhymes and anapaestic tetrameter as I explore his books with DS.

Image and text: Dr Seuss

And, as we were reading The Cat in the Hat for the umpteenth time the other night, something resonated with me. On page 16, the naughty cat, who is demonstrating his admirable skill at multi-tasking, says:

‘Look at me! Look at me now!’ said the cat. ‘With a cup and a cake on the top of my hat! I can hold two books! I can hold up the fish! And a little toy ship! And some milk on a dish! And look! I can hop up and down on the ball! But that is not all! Oh, no. That is not all…’

‘… I can hold the cup and the milk and the cake! I can hold up these books! And the fish on a rake! I can hold the toy ship and a little toy man! And look! With my tail, I can hold a red fan! I can fan with the fan as I hop on the ball! But that is not all. Oh, no. That is not all…’

And I thought: that sounds familiar.

Every day, I’m balancing a fish on a rake. Every day I’m balancing a fish on a rake while holding a toy ship, a toy man, and a fan. Every day, I’m holding all those things while fanning with the fan and hopping on the ball.

Dr Seuss may not have known it at the time, but the 21^st century Cat in the Hat really is every modern mum. Hats off to us all (just don’t drop the cake).