Hooray – it turns out I have been a good girl after all (despite a few glitches along the way).

Daddy and mummy went away to see their family and I was really worried that they wouldn’t come back in time to see Santa Paws. I wasn’t sure if he’d come to visit if they weren’t here. I needn’t have worried though, they came back home just in time. It’s the first time they’ve been away and left me to look after Millie and Angelin, it was a big responsibility and I had to explain to them that it was ok for daddy and mummy to go away, they need to go and see their human family from time to time and spend time with them like they do with us. Angelin was worried that they might not come back as her first mummy went away and didn’t come back which is when she came to our family. She wondered how would we get fed if they weren’t here to look after us (Angelin loves her food), I explained that mummy and daddy’s friends would come and see us and look after us but when they’re not visiting Peppar and I are in charge and we’d look after her and Millie. Mummy and daddy never leave us for long so we just need to be patient and enjoy the peace and quiet and just chill out for a while When mummy and daddy came home, we gave them a big welcome home and lots of big cuddles, Millie was very loud and excited as usual.

One night, when mummy and daddy went to bed, they said that tonight was the night that Santa Paws 🐾 would come if we had been good kitties. All that night I could hardly sleep, I was so excited but also a little nervous as I wasn’t sure I had been good enough all year to be on the nice list or not. I haven’t always been a good girl but I have tried really hard. I thought I’d sleep in the spare room where I could guard the front door and would hear if Santa Paws tried to get in. As you all know my hearing is amazing so however he tries to get in I’ll hear him. Eventually I drifted off to sleep 💤 Even though I hadn’t been asleep long I woke up really early as I was so excited to see if I had made the nice list that I couldn’t sleep for very long. I needn’t have worried though, as it turned out I was on the nice list! Santa Paws came and left me and my brother and sisters lots of presents 🎁. I found a pile of boxes and packages that weren’t there before. What were they? Where did they come from? What was in them? Were they all for me? When can I open them? I gave them all a good sniff and pawed them all to see if I could guess what was in them. I even gave a couple of them a little nibble to see what they tasted of. No matter what I tried though I just couldn’t figure out what was in them. It was time to wake mummy and daddy up but hang on I didn’t hear anything all night, how did Santa Paws get past me? How did he get in? I thought about this for a while and decided that he must be some kind of magical being to have made it in without making a sound.

There was something for each of us, we all got to help unwrap the gifts, ripping the paper off to find out what was inside, it was so exciting. I got 4 new Christmas bandanas to wear when I’m out walkies. Peppar got a big fluffy bed to snuggle in; Angelin got a toy box for all the toys to go in and Millie got some new toys to play with. We made lots of mess on the living room floor! For once mummy and daddy said this was ok just this once. There was crinkly paper to play in, boxes and bags to hide in and jump out on one my sisters from when they least expected it. I wish Santa Paws came every day, it was AWESOME.

Daddy made sure that the bags were safe for us by taking the handles off. Cats can easily get the handles caught around their necks and blind cats are even more at risk of this for very obvious reasons. Always make sure that your pawents cut the handles off or if they can’t do this then they must supervise you at all times when you’re playing when there’s bags around.

Mummy was cooking in the morning but she still managed to take me out for walkies, having given daddy a list of what to do and keep an eye on whilst we were out. The cooking machine was on in the kitchen all morning and mummy said it was stuffed full, no more room for anything else, she was making a giant feast and it all smelled amazing, it was making me really hungry. My human Uncle came over to help them eat the big feast. It must be a special occasion as they all sat at the big table together rather than sitting on the sofa as mummy and daddy normally do. There were extra spaces at the table and so I plonked myself on the chair at the head of the table to supervise them all having their dinner and it also meant I could guard the Turkey bird that mummy and cooked for their feast.

If I guarded it and stopped them having seconds then there would be more for me to eat (and maybe) share with the others. I needn’t have worried though as daddy had saved some for us, after their feast daddy dished some out for us all. I’ve never had turkey bird before – it was YUMMY 😋.

Once they had finished their feast we all sat round the tv just chilling out. Then just when I thought all the excitement was over my human Uncle brought out some more presents! Mummy and daddy had some for him too so there was more unwrapping to help with and more paper to play with. Santa Paws must have got them mixed up and delivered them to the wrong house, still no-one seemed to worry about it so we just helped out with the unwrapping and helping shred the paper.

Then we chilled out for the rest of the day, little Angelin was exhausted with all the excitement and with her little belly full of turkey dinner she went off to sleep in one of the new boxes, Millie wanted to play fetch some more with daddy before she too crashed out next to mummy on the sofa. Pepper was in his usual spot on mummy’s pillow and I chilled out on my perch behind mummy before I too drifted off to sleep, exhausted from the days excitement and dreaming of how lucky I am to be part of a loving, caring family and how I’m going to model my new bandanas and play with all the toys we got. What a day 😸.

The next day we all just relaxed and took it easy, playing with our toys, watching tv and for me and mummy a nice walk in one of my new bandanas, I even got to choose which one I wore. Then in the evening I snuggled up on mummy’s lap to keep her company.

Now all I have to do is be a good girl for the next 12 months and Santa Paws might bring me some more presents next year. It’s going no to be quite a challenge as that’s a really, really long time for a mischievous kitty like me to be good for, still I’ll give it a try.