For a number of years, our daughter, Cailin, came up with a daily email treat through the month of December. It was a beautiful, and thoughtful online Advent Calendar. This posting, the last one in the year 2019, was about a cassette tape I’d unearthed. She had recorded many ditties on the tape (which was intended for entertainment on the road) but this particular song is her original work, and about cats, so is a winner. It’s also a little clunky -- a seven year old was doing the engineering after all -- but it’s positively darling. (And here’s a warning: it’s very earwormy.)

The following is her written message from the Advent Calendar posting. Imagine this is Cailin’s voice:

I can't believe I'm voluntarily sharing this, but I'm feeling generous, and if you enjoy this - even at the expense of my vanity - I'm okay with that.

When I was little, I loved recording and re-recording little musings, stories and songs on cassette tapes, just saying (or singing) whatever half-baked thought crossed my mind. These little 'radio' shows were recently rediscovered by my parents and after a deep dive into the stack, they found this particular recording. I was about seven-years-old in the recording. I know this because we only had our cat, Panda, for about two years. Panda (in the photo here) gets a little shout-out in this hit single, "Cats, cats, cats."

Cats are apparently all I thought about (honestly, they basically still are all I think about). I love my little Chicago accent when I first talk about 'ceyats'; the Daniel Johnston-y talk about Toby (the mult-i-colored cat); and my genius idea of incorporating that cough into a short loop. Also the end *jazz hands* "Caaaaaats!" *jazz hands*

My closest friends all know that I continue to be a cat lady. I like to say (and believe!) I'm an equal opportunity cat and dog person, but we all know better.

Here’s Cailin’s song: Cats, Cats, Cats