Cat-sitting = cash savings

The girls are getting a pet tonight — and the best part of it is that we get to return her in about a week.

Let me explain: My friend Lindsay stayed at our house last month to take care of the girls while Matt and I were away for a couple of days. Her cat, Lulu, moved in too. No surprise, Bronwyn and Isobel fell in love with the calico cutie. Here's a picture of Lulu and Isobel hanging out on the stairs:



As a credit to my children's sensitivity and intelligence, they asked only once following the Lulu live-in whether they could get a cat of their own. Matt and I aren't opposed to having a pet.... OK, maybe we are. But we love watching the girls interact with Lulu, who is the best-behaved feline ever. So when Lindsay mentioned that she was going to visit her parents out of town, I jumped in with an offer to watch the cat. She'll arrive with her own food, toys and litterbox. We get a pet for a week, at zero cost!

If we were, in fact, considering a full-time pet, this would be a good way to test the waters. Has anyone else done pet-sitting duty? And did it result in you getting a family pet of your own?