Froggie Friend

On Sunday we got a new housemate. He is green, wittle-tiny, and likes to hop.

New Friend

To be fair, he isn't living in our house, but rather outside near the deck and parked on a leaf.

Smiley, who loves animals above all else, squealed with delight over and over and kept reaching out to touch the frog. I love how much she likes animals. My dad once told me that I loved animals as a kid. Maybe most kids are like that, and I still love believing that I share this special bond with my daughter.

We were at the park the other day and as we exited the car, Smiley headed straight for the swings - which she calls "weeee!" btw, so very appropriate. She stopped mid stride when she saw a "woof" (a dog to you and me). She ran over to the dog, squatted down on her hind legs, and shrieked with delight while pointing at his nose. The owners of this, and all the other dogs we encounter on our outings, were very sweet and seemed to enjoy someone else being so enchanted with their pets of choice.

Smiley and I enjoyed our new froggie friend while Turbo was still napping. When Turbo awoke from his nap, I excitedly told him I had something cool to show him on our deck. I was trying to coax him outside.

Turbo: "Tell me what it is. Tell me right now."  (ever the charmer, that one.)

Me: "Turbo, it's a really, tiny frog. You want to see it?"

Turbo ran to the backyard and commanded that I show him the location of said frog. When I obeyed, the frog was posing exactly as he is in this photo.

Turbo: "He's ours now. He hopped to our home and now he lives with us."

And then it dawned on me that the frog hadn't moved for about 30 minutes and I started to get scared that maybe Mr. Frog wasn't alive and while I began plotting how to explain froggy heaven to my kids, Turbo took care of it for me by shaking the branch that belonged to the leaf that was hosting the frog.

Gone.

After a brief pause to ponder his actions, Turbo said, "He's gone to be with his own family." And then Turbo wandered a few feet away. While Turbo's back was to me, I found the frog setting up camp on the leaf just below the one from which we'd launched him. Phew.

I thought Turbo had moved on to play with chalk or ride his trike, but then I heard him muttering a bit. Here is the part I caught.

Turbo: "Sometimes I like frogs; sometimes I don't. I made a mistake." Oh, my heart.

Me: "Turbo! I found him!"

Both kids came running and we all smiled at each other, proud and happy once again when we saw our froggie friend doing just fine. Smiley squealed.

Turbo: "He came back! He likes it at our home now."