Frogs

My kids are obsessed with getting a pet. They want a dog and a kitten and a turtle and a guinea pig and hamsters and hermit crabs and frogs. I think that's all for now. Oh, a chinchilla too. So, a week ago, we're at a local farm playing with the animals and getting a horse ride, when the kids (mine and the two I babysit) find a frog or a toad or something. I tell them to leave the poor thing alone. We're driving home and Caty keeps asking me for a fish tank in her room. I tell her she already has an aquarium, but she can get a betta fish or something. No, mom, I just want the tank she says. I shudder. "Caty, is there a frog in the car?" Vicky, my charge, says "NO!" but my honest girl says "Yes, momma." They took the frog/toad from the farm so she can keep it as a pet. It was so precious to hear them making plans for the poor thing. They were going to take care of it so well. Then, we stopped the car and got out and frog/toad was nowhere to be found. All I can say is I hope he escaped. And, I'm glad the car was a rental because I don't need to be finding a frog skeleton one day while I'm in there cleaning! Caty was so upset about the loss of her beloved pet, that I promised to get her another one. Why I would pay for a frog when I can just wait for one to jump in the pool, I don't know. But I did. I bought two African Fire Belly Toads - one for Caty and one for Sabrina. They have nice little houses with cool rocks to chill out on. And I have to feed them live crickets, which is a bit icky, I must say. The things moms do for their kids. The girls want me to hold the things for them every day so they can pet them. Okay, really? I take care of the tropical fish and now I'm taking care of toads? This is ridiculous. Now you can understand why we don't have a dog!