Goodnight Froggy

Normally I don't post an entry without a photo, but I never did get a really good one of our Froggy. He lived behind the plastic of his happy 10-gallon bowl and it was challenging to capture his true popsicle green hue. He was so fragile a species, our tree frog, that human touch was to be avoided.

Today he returned to the earth by the cradle of a wooden spoon where the microorganisms will break him down into useful nutrients. Nature wastes nothing. 

My 5-year old son had cascades of tears on-and-off for about an hour. "Mom, can you lay on the bed and hold me?" I love how he was so willing to ask for what he needed. I am curious to see if the feelings of loss will come back. I bet they will ... and I honestly want to observe how he handles the death of his second pet. When we buried froggy in our garden we offered God a prayer of thanks for this little green energy ball of life. 

Later, my son had some thoughts that I left as his. "Froggy was in charge of his own life. Right Mom? .....We were not in charge of Froggy." A few hours passed and then a visit to Grandpa and Grandma's. Grandpa Ed said, "Well, Froggy is in froggy heaven now ..." E said, "Well, he has to return to the earth first." 

On the drive back home, I also posed this question, "What can you put in a box? A happy feeling? Giggles? Hunger? I tried to explain the idea of something you can hold or touch versus the intangible. And these happy feelings and giggles are the things that Froggy showed us, even if we don't have him in his little box tonight. 

Froggy was my nocturnal blogging friend. To have shared my space (home heart child) with him was a very special exchange with life indeed. I didn't have to hold him in my hand to love him either.

There's A Frog in the House

E officially is the proud 5-year old owner of his first purchased pet. Wooly the caterpillar has to count as the first pet, of course. Then there was Wooly II, who was released into our yard after a 3-week tour inside. Real tears were shed with the loss of each.

The frog habitat birthday gift from friend Jennifer pushed me to investigate a critter to put inside of it. After frequent demands about getting a pet -- and my request, "Please, can we put this aside for a few days so I can think about it?" I decided that we could at least look at some frogs. Well, we ended up with a 2.5 gallon plastic fish bowl and a square of screen snapped tight over its opening - plus an American Green Tree Frog. 

His name is Froggy! And E named him so because of the Froggy series of kid's books. (Yes, I do recommend this series written by Johnathan London). I am just as excited about the whole thing as E. His love of animals has been evident from a very young age and continues to grow. It thrills me to set him up with a pet that will grow with his boyhood adventures. Besides, I really like this little frog.

As I write this blog entry, I have been summoned several times to look at what the frog is doing. He appears to be very happy in his Coco Soft bedding. 

It's Not That Easy Being Green, sung by Kermit the Frog