Carolyn Holm

Dear Mom,
Who are the Three Stooges?
XOXO Poppy

Dear Poppy,
They were a so-called comedy group from years ago. Mostly slapstick pratfall comedy. I didn’t think they were very funny.
Love, Carolyn

Dear Mom,
But you call us the Three Stooges!!!!!!!
XOXO Poppy

Dear Poppy,
Ouf, you caught me out. That’s right, I do. But it’s not that I think the three of you are funny. Or maybe it is because I do think you’re funny? I’m not sure I can explain this to a dog.
Love, Carolyn

Dear Mom,
You have a lot of nicknames for all of us.  You call me Babe!!!!
XOXO Poppy

Dear Poppy,
I do?
Love, Carolyn

Dear Mom,
When we’re on a walk, and I stop to inspect each foot and pull out anything that got stuck there, after a while you say “I think we’ve got it, Babe”.
XOXO Poppy

Dear Poppy,
You’re right! Well, it’s kind of a human thing to give nicknames. I’ve done it all my life. When I was a kid we had a cat named Wing Ding, and one of her nicknames was Whiz Bang. That cat loved doing zoomies, so the name fit. And that name would be a good fit for Winston.
Love, Carolyn

Dear Mom,
Puffin’s names fit, but he doesn’t like them when they do.
XOXO Poppy

Dear Poppy,
I know he doesn’t. Not when they refer to his weight. 
Love, Carolyn

Dear Mom,
Like when you call Winston and Puffin “Slinky and The Chonk.”
XOXO Poppy

Dear Poppy,
Poor Puffin, I shouldn’t give him such a hard time.
Love, Carolyn

Dear Mom,
And sometimes you like to refer to the boys as “The Weasel and the Badger”. Though I think Puffin kinda likes being called a badger. He likes sounding fierce.
XOXO Poppy

Dear Poppy,
Badgers are fierce characters! And when he’s feeling cranky Puffin can be fierce. But I also call Puffin my Handsome Dude.
Love, Carolyn

Dear Mom,
He likes that. And you say “Hey Buddy” to the boys all the time. 
XOXO Poppy

Dear Poppy,
That’s a common generic nickname. Humans say that a lot.
Love, Carolyn

Dear Mom,
Maybe because it’s human, the cats don’t pay much attention to it.
XOXO Poppy

Dear Poppy,
They’re cats. They pay attention when they want to pay attention. Sometimes Winston pretends he doesn’t even know his own name.
Love, Carolyn

Dear Mom,
A dog would never do that!!!!!!!
XOXO Poppy

Dear Poppy,
Dogs are very literal. That’s one of the things that make you so sweet.
Love, Carolyn

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A note to our readers…

Poppy, Puffin, and Winston are looking forward to sharing their weekly correspondence with you! Each week one of them is featured here, and yes, you can get the week’s post conveniently in your email every Friday by subscribing in the subscriber box at the top of this page. (If you are reading this in an email, go to blog.carolynholm.com to subscribe.) If you have already subscribed, multiple paws are raised to salute you!