TY'S LESSON LEARNED THE HARD WAY

Recently, Ty and his buddy Holden caught a few frogs in the back yard during their morning play date. They played hard with the poor things. After a while my heart went out to the warty toads and I asked the boys to set them free. Ty couldn't part. So, he asked if he could put it in his bug catcher. Unfortunately, I agreed. The poor thing was forgotten and left to bake the rest of the day in the blistering hot Texas sun that was bearing down in our back yard. The next time Ty stepped foot in the back yard it was around dinner time. He came running in with tears streaming down his face saying, "my frog is dead, I thought he was sleeping but he is dead!" I have never heard my boy cry like that before. It was from the heart. But mostly, I have never seen such a shriveled frog! I swear that thing shrunk less than half it's body size in a matter of 5 or 6 hours. I could have snapped it in half it was so crispy! Anyway, the events that followed were pretty adorable. Ty and Jaden held a ceremony for the frog. They used a pot of mine that I hadn't gotten around to planting in. They had a burial for the frog, complete with leaves, berry's and flowers. There was even a prayer offered. It went like this, "to our dear kind friend who has passed this day, amen" (paraphrased from the movie Indian in the Cupboard, which they had recently seen). It was heartbreaking and adorable all in one!