Elizabeth texted me at 7:30 on a Saturday morning that the 2024-2025 FAFSA was finally allowing online corrections. So apparently she has been keeping an eye on things. I went right downstairs and “fixed” my application (it claimed I had not signed it when I the hell HAD signed it), and now it is processing. Finally. In mid-April. It annoys me that it claims today is the day I submitted it, as if I put it off until today, as opposed to today being the day it allowed me to fix ITS OWN KNOWN ISSUE (SO MANY people got the “Whoops, you didn’t sign it!!” message after signing it—and then the “go back and sign it” button DID NOT WORK AND THERE WAS NO OTHER WAY TO FIX IT).
Anyway! Moving on! By which I mean saving this to stew about later when I should be sleeping!
We have acquired a fourth cat, and I have several things to say about this:
1. I know. I know that is too many cats. No: I KNOW.
2. In fact, I would say that four cats is twice as many cats as three. And three cats was already twice as many cats as two.
3. This new cat has medium-length fur (we always get short-haired varieties), and I am not at all sure I am up to this challenge. Already there are fur tumbleweeds.
But this was not an impulse-buy: I acquired this cat deliberately, after months of searching, EVEN KNOWING that four cats was too many. It was because our new kitten, acquired in the hopes that it would make our sad older boy cat less sad (our older girl cat does not want to hang out with other cats, but our older boy cat does, and he lost his cat buddy a little over a year ago), did not click with our older boy cat, and was instead making him even more unhappy by constantly chasing him and badgering him to play. When he wasn’t tormenting the old boy, the kitten followed me persistently, asking for interaction—which was super cute, but it felt like he was trying to fill a gap in his life. And so I regretted deciding not to follow the “kittens should be acquired in pairs” advice, and began the search for the second kitten we should have acquired.
Our original kitten is 11 months old, so I wasn’t looking for a KITTEN-kitten, just a young cat with similar energy levels. I was refreshing the shelter’s adoptable cats page every single day, and one day I found what I was looking for: a young male cat, 9 months old, described as playful and affectionate, who had been brought to the shelter because he was too playful and rambunctious for the older cat in his home. Longer fur than I’d prefer, but everything else sounded perfect. I went and got him that same day.
And, for the first time, bringing a new cat into our household has BROUGHT BALANCE instead of CREATING CHAOS. Now the two older orange cats cuddle together on the couch, which they did not do before. And the two younger black cats play and frolic together, and mostly leave the older orange cats alone. And I have seen our orange boy doing a little bit of playing with the kittens! And the original kitten still follows me around cutely, but less persistently.
Four is so many cats, though. The food!! The water!! The litter-box scooping!! THE FUR!!! There are cats simply EVERYWHERE.
Every single college knows the fafsa $hit show is not your fault! Don’t give a second thought to the date submitted. You’re still ages ahead of almost everyone else!
Oh I love your new boy so much!!! I have always wanted a cat with a plumed tail!
Also, I am shocked that Elizabeth was awake at 7:30 on a Saturday!! Unless she was still up from the night before, she and I are having VERY different experiences lol
I WONDERED
Yes, yes, yes! We acquired a third cat who then explained to our dog that cats are friends not food and life was great! Third cat wrestled and played with the two older cats! Third cat loves my human child where 1st and 2nd are definitively mine!
We more recently acquired a fourth cat which made double the amount of cats as three cats – you are absolutely correct!!!! Fourth cat PLAYS with the dog and wrestles and chases the other cats and it’s so so so good for EVERYONE. Fourth cat has been begging to go outside with the dog (“Mommmmmmm, it’s not fair she gets to go outside and I don’t!”) and now this spring they go outside together and come back in together and it is precious and delightful!
I work online from home and there are always at least two creatures with me and during zoom meetings it’s practically on the agenda that everyone shows their pets.
I was a financial aid officer for 30 years until my school closed suddenly last year. I am keeping up with all the changes in case I get a new position. However, when helping a friend access fafsa yesterday, I have no clue how this can possibly work for families or schools. They changed it without usual beta testing and are attempting to drive the bus while changing the tire. I might be done with this career.
‘Attempting to drive the bus while changing the tire’ – that is an amazing analogy, applicable in many situations. Thank you!
Oh, I’m so happy the cats have settled down well! Mixing and matching is so hard, but when it falls into place, yes!
So much fur. So much mess. But so worth it!
FAFSA. SAME. SAME. Sigh.
As a cat rescue and foster person, I can assure you that 4 cats is a rookie number; when you hit double digits is when it’s a true problem! Also? Litter robot. Can’t recommend enough! I’ve never bothered to connect ours to the WiFi as I can’t imagine needing to be notified anytime a cat uses the litter box, but not having to scoop the litter is lovely. Twice a week I just have to remove the bag of used litter and replace it with a new trash bag. Refill litter as needed and boom. More time to vacuum the fur tumbleweeds!
Yes! My stepdaughter’s household has one of these and I was just amazed. I do not need one, but — so cool! And it seems to … work! Which is, you know, a good but at times absent feature in new technologies.
So funny: “Which is, you know, a good but at times absent feature in new technologies.”
Four cats is a lot but harmony!!! is priceless. I think you chose correctly <3
Really, though, YOU have two cats. And then your cats both have a cat.
This made me laugh so hard 😂 I love it!!
That’s a good looking cat crew!
We’re sadly down to only one cat these days and frankly cats everywhere sounds lovely. I mean the litter and fur I know I KNOW but still …
Congrats on the new cat and bringing harmony to the household. That orange, black, orange, black picture is very pleasing to the eye.
Oh my goodness. I immediately realised that four teenagers is twice as many teenagers as three teenagers. Explains my life perfectly (although tbh the youngest is technically a tween).
Two ginger and two black cats – you have a DOUBLE Halloween kitty combo! I think there’s a Reddit dedicated to ginger and black cat combinations :)
We went from two cats (to zero cats) to three cats last summer and you summed it up perfectly – three is definitely twice as many as two cats. I have already promised though that if the universe puts a ginger kitten in our path we’ll add that to the mix too!
I have every confidence you can handle four cats. After all, you have five kids.
We are thinking of getting a pair of kittens this spring or summer. It took a long time for me to feel ready after Xander died, but I’m getting there. It helps that our neighbor cat has taken to visiting us almost every day and he’s been reminding me of why I love cats.
I’ve been trying to decide if I should bother to fill out the FAFSA this year. My college student didn’t qualify for any aid last year and I don’t see any reason that would change for this year. Should I fill it out anyway?
Also, the orange kitty on the left looks like they are sitting on a trap door in your floor.
I filled it out for Oldest for his first year and it was clear we were never going to qualify for aid so I haven’t filled it out since (he’s currently a junior) and I haven’t seen any repercussions or reasons why we should have. Unless someone provides me with a really strong reason I won’t even try it again. My god it was infuriating and that was BEFORE this current debacle
Maybe fill it out, nothing yo loose but time and stress….but 2 things-
You need it even if you are just interested in a federal student loan
and 2nd:
Only the student will be getting updates/notifications now, so remind them to watch (pretty sure, I think!)
The entire FAFSA debacle makes me itchy. I am so sorry you and all the other college-bound people and their families are dealing with this! Yikes!
Your new kitten is gorgeous, and look at all those beauties enjoying a well-balanced meal together! Hooray!
This reminds me of how I acquired my previous batch of cats. I had two, and my fiancé had one, and when we moved to NC together, we took my two and left his orange boy behind with his mother because he did NOT travel well. But my two obviously liked me best, and he felt left out, so we planned to adopt one more. But you can’t just add one more kitten to a bonded older pair, so we ended up getting two more so that they would have each other. And then his mother decided that she was going to put his orange boy outside and hope for the best because she was tired of litter boxes, so of course we went and got him and then all of a sudden we had five cats. Which is really only two and a half cats apiece, which isn’t that many at all. Except (you guessed it), he broke up with me and I kept the cats, and had to come to terms with being a newly single 33 year old with five cats. I loved all of them so much though. Now my husband and I have two brothers, and are thinking of adding two more…
The FAFSA situation is a travesty. Luckily we have a rising sophomore so we already know where she is going to school and about how much we are on the hook for. We don’t qualify for much/any need based aid but fill it out just in case and because it’s required just to be eligible for merit stuff, too. I cannot imagine how stressful it would be to have a rising freshman who might be very dependent on financial aid in order to decide where they are going to school for the next four years?! To be in limbo while scholarship and enrollment deadlines are approaching (and passing!) While a lot of kids are committing to school and registering for orientation, classes, housing etc… It would be maddening to be stuck waiting on this mess to be fixed.
Omg, you have MATCHED KITTY PAIRS. That is a lot of cats, but you managed a lot of kids, and I feel like cats have to be a TINY bit easier.
All the Americans with college-aged kids in my timeline are livid about FAFSA, and I am sympathetic, except it seems to mean that you get financial aid even if you’re financially comfortable? In which case I’m also envious? Anyway, I agree, technology blows, except when it helps, and often blows even WHILE helping.
The rumor is that the FAFSA gives you financial aid even if you’re financially comfortable?? Who is spreading this rumor?? IS IT THE FAFSA
I have to confess: I do not like cats in general, though I do find the odd individual cat I’m fond of. BUT we recently got a puppy to keep our 11 year old dog company and I would say that if we were made of money I’d add a second puppy because this one is too rambunctious for my sweet old dog. The old one does NOT like play overtures but the young one lives in eternal hope that she’ll convince the old one to cavort with her. Our biggest issue besides that is that the old one needs prescription food and has terrible digestive issues if she gets ahold of anything else, but is constantly on alert to opportunistically dive for the puppy’s food. We’ve had to lock the puppy’s food up in her crate, but then we have to make sure she gets enough chances to get into the crate to eat during the day.
I work in financial aid at a small private university and this year had been a nightmare! We can see the date that you first attempted the FAFSA, in case that matters at your school. I would love to know if you see changes in your kids’ eligibility, as they removed the “more than one in college benefit”. Such a debacle!