Baby David smiles when he sleeps.
Many of you have wondered why Bossy renamed the cat who is not a stray but don’t tell him because he thinks he won the Bossy compound in a game of craps — and why Baby David.
The Royle Family, a BBC sitcom that ran from 1998-2000 is perhaps the best piece of television Bossy has ever seen. In it, a working class family whose last name serves hilarious contrast to the actual royal family, watches the telly. Yeah, that’s about it from front to back, give or take the few minutes it takes one of them to brew a pot in the kitchen or have a go at the upstairs toilet.
The brilliant cast consists of a couple and their grown to near-grown kids. One season is wrapped around the impending nuptials of their daughter Denice and her bump-on-a-log boyfriend, Dave. Of course a pregnancy soon follows, and the birth of a son, Baby David.
Baby David is largely ignored, propped in his plastic baby seat on the coffee table, helpless against the long cigarette ash passing over his head. But ever so occasionally the family will turn their attention to this complacent blob and say something along the lines of, “He’s quite bright, in’t he?” To which someone will invariably and sentimentally answer, “Who?” which triggers the indignant response, “Baybeeeee Daaaaaaaavid.”
And to anyone still curious about the future of Bossy and her Not Stray — the cat’s rightful owners up the street we’re looking at you — Baby David is only allowed in Bossy house for brief, brief periods only occasionally, when the bitter cold is so cold and bitter the white cat begins to turn blue.
Gia says
January 14, 2010 at 9:36 amI don’t know … that right there looks like a cat that isn’t planning to leave the Bossy household. When you find Stella and Baby David curled up together on the sofa you will know the transition is complete.
carson says
January 14, 2010 at 10:02 amWhoohoo! Netflix has The Royle Family! Queue me up! (Will Bossy one day analyze that q word for us? I’ve never understood it.)
terri says
January 14, 2010 at 10:04 ami’m not buying the whole “brief, brief periods” bit…baby david has unpacked his fuzzy suitcase and isn’t planning to go anywhere.
Golden says
January 14, 2010 at 10:16 amSo brief? He fell asleep it was so brief. LOL!
The Domestic Goddess says
January 14, 2010 at 10:28 amBrief, uh huh. We get it.
Suzanne says
January 14, 2010 at 10:38 amI don’t know Bossy… he looks pretty much at home to me and it sounds like a much better home. It’s too cold for pups and cats outside.
Thanks for letting Baby David warm up in your house.
madtexter says
January 14, 2010 at 11:30 amAwww….me likey Baaaaybee Daaavid (cockney accent). I too have been enthralled with a British TV series from ’98 called “Berkely Square”. It’s a series about nannies and ‘the help’ set in London in the early 1900’s Victorian era. And oh the clothes, the CLOTHES! Don’t get me started. Who new that nannies had SO much drama in their lives. It’s like a subdued ‘Dynasty’.
Ris says
January 14, 2010 at 11:35 amBaby David is so white! How does Bossy distinguish him from the snow?
Jodi Anderson says
January 14, 2010 at 11:59 amThey might be his *family*, but he obviously likes his foster parents better.
janice says
January 14, 2010 at 12:04 pmI think that Baby David, the cat who is Not a Stray, should be Not a Stray because he lives with you.
sherry says
January 14, 2010 at 12:49 pmBaby David is one gorgeous animal.
Is he a stray or is he yours? Well, if you have a litter box and cat food in the house – he’s yours!
Cactus Petunia says
January 14, 2010 at 1:02 pmCats are fickle, fickle creatures. They go wherever they please, whenever they like…I say this as a large cat is draped across my lap, almost blocking my keyboard.
Reeb says
January 14, 2010 at 1:10 pmThat temporary cat looks pretty darned settled in.
And thanks for the lowdown on the name. amusing.
Ms. Cranky Pants says
January 14, 2010 at 1:41 pm“You made me love you, I didn’t want to do it…”
Half Assed Kitchen says
January 14, 2010 at 1:49 pmLook how his ear folds over. WANT Baby David.
David says
January 14, 2010 at 2:16 pmCat migratory patterns would imply it is bitter cold from October through April in your neck of the woods.
foolery says
January 14, 2010 at 3:29 pmOne of the better pet names I’ve heard, and I consider myself a master of naming pets. No one else does, but I do.
Franca Bollo says
January 14, 2010 at 3:36 pmCotton man there does keep his whites white.
Little Miss Sunshine State says
January 14, 2010 at 3:42 pmBaby David is smiling because he is smug about how he tricked Bossy’s family into adopting him. Any day now, he will be smugly smiling because there will be a kitty litter box in Bossy’s basement.
Sherri says
January 14, 2010 at 4:13 pmCats like to pick their owners!!
I loved the Grandma, who never drank but always did! It was a great show.
Kay Bryan says
January 14, 2010 at 7:53 pmLove this cat, he has hutzpah! You all are lucky that he has sort of adopted you – it is a great honor. What a sweetie he is!
Deb says
January 14, 2010 at 8:51 pmOH ohohoh! Someone else who loves The Royle Family! That Baby David sure did nap a lot, didn’t he? “Where’s Baby David? Oh, he’s just having a lie-down in his cot upstairs.” Looks like the feline version gets more attention!
janny226 says
January 15, 2010 at 12:32 amAww, he sure looks comfy. I hope for him more cold days ahead.
janny226 says
January 15, 2010 at 12:34 amWhen my mom and I moved into an apartment behind a woman’s house years ago, the cat left behind by her daughter-who-no-longer-lived-at-home decided we were his new owners, and didn’t take no for an answer. Even though we already had a cat. He just moved in and made himself at home, much to Kitty’s chagrin. We all lived happily ever after.
MidLifeMama says
January 15, 2010 at 2:07 pmThat picture is so peaceful and quiet it causes my blood pressure to go down 10 points and I now I want to take a nap.
BH says
January 15, 2010 at 2:07 pmNo litter box (eeeeeeeew)
only occasional food (;p)
an, um, he ans Stella HAVE slept on the same couch at the same time, along with an unnamed napping human….
hmm.
BH
Elsewhere says
January 15, 2010 at 4:04 pmHave you seen the 2009 christmas special of The Royle Family? You have to watch the Sat-Nav-lady- clip:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MZgJbDHNGWc&feature=PlayList&p=E5A869E54B8CD786&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=28
and all the other bits!
Mimi says
January 15, 2010 at 8:18 pmSupposedly it’s good luck for a cat to choose it’s owner as they are the only animal that domesticated themselves, by choice. I think the jig is up though, Baby David looks like he’s here to stay!
Lis says
January 16, 2010 at 3:06 amI believe this is a textbook case of what is called “the tender trap”. Congrats on the new addition to your family!
Janette says
February 12, 2010 at 7:37 pmLove Baby David and his smile. My little Ollie (who could be Baby David’s twin) came into our life the same way! My in-law’s neighbors would never bring him in during the winter, no matter how cold it got. “He’s an outdoor cat,” they said. Awful people. My MIL stole/adopted/rescued him and then dropped him with us. He seems absolutely happy here.
?????? says
February 27, 2011 at 12:37 pmHe is my cat, we are very sad he will not stay with us anymore.
We raised him from a kitten, and we miss him very much! He was my chrismas present when i was 8, he is the best cat ever. Thanks for takeing care of him, but thats not your job, it is mine! If he was so cold why wouldnt he just come back to us. He comes home about 2 times a month. Its sad. 
(By the way, his OFFICIAL name is Snowflake)