May’s the month when we get herd mentality

My little dog Benny, a Dachshund-terrier mix, has a tough job.

A pampered housedog, he could easily waste his days stretched out, snoozing in patches of sunlight around the house. Instead, he took on an impossible chore. He herds cats.

That’s no easy task.

Benny spends hours fruitlessly pursuing our four cats, running them from one room to another.

The cats love it. Why shouldn’t they? It’s their game.

The dog doesn’t stand a chance.

Intent on chasing the fat black-and-white cat, the one who looks like he’s wearing a fluffy tuxedo, up the stairs, Benny breaks away to go after a frisky tabby kitten who seems to appear out of thin air and sweeps past going down the stairs.

As soon as he gets the big, lazy, orange cat treed on the back of the sofa, a sleek black cat dashes out from under it and off Benny goes again, in hot pursuit.

Occasionally, the cats work in pairs. They’ll lure him into a game of chase only to suddenly separate and each head in a different direction, leaving the dog confused and defeated.

Herding cats, as everyone knows, is an exercise in futility. Sometimes, Benny gets so caught up in the chase that he loses track of what he’s doing and simply stops and begins to run around and around in a tight circle, chasing his own tail.

He can’t even catch that.

I bring up the story of Benny and the cats only because it’s May. A month when I, and most parents I know, start acting a lot like my little dog.

Like we’re herding cats. Like we’re chasing our own tails.

May, second only to December, is a jam-packed month for parents of school-age children.

Running from one track meet, school conference, dance recital, end-of-the-year party to the next is exhausting. It makes us crazy.

This is hard to explain to anyone who doesn’t have children; people who can’t imagine standing in the rain all day on a Saturday watching mud-soaked children play a crucial soccer tournament, or spending what should be a long, drowsy Sunday afternoon perched on a folding chair at a piano recital listening to stumbling fingers play “Fur Elise.”

This time of year there are so many details to be seen to. Final school projects have to be turned in. Grades need to be monitored.

The days are longer and the weather is too nice – the argument is made – to stay in and do homework.

For working parents there are summer child-care issues to figure out. Family vacations need to be planned.

Before you know it, you’re running in circles. Like Benny.

It’s the end of May. School will be out in just a few weeks. The good news is that summer brings a little peace and quiet. Life slows down, and so do we.

Until then, like little Benny, we’re just herding cats.