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My husband is a cop. And not the "Officer Friendly, can I help get your poor little kitten out of that tree" kind of cop. Definitely more of a "by the book, just the facts ma'am" kinda guy. But this man of mine tolerates me and the kids having to stop and rescue pokey roadside turtles, the containers of caterpillars and slugs as our kitchen table centerpieces, and a tree frog and water snail nursery completely taking over our back deck area. In fact, he often sends me texts and pictures when he's at work of all the frogs and toads he comes across late at night while he patrols. He's even been known to make a quick stop, buy a cheap container and bring home some wandering roadside critters for our nature studies.
It would be at this moment, that both my husband, Tim, and my son, Zach, looked at *me* expectantly. -_____-
Problem #1: Libby (12) is the family frog whisperer. The girl with the net. The girl with the skill and the talent. The girl who looks super-duper cute when she's out froggin' and critter catching. And she was not with us.
Problem #2: Zach (9) is a straight-up germaphobe. While he loves observing and assisting, he will not touch a frog or toad unless he has immediate access to a sink and lots of soap.
Problem #3: No net in the van.
Problem #4: No critter container in the van.
But still...this look of expectancy from the two men in my life. So flash forward one hour later and here are my conclusions.
#1: I totally ROCK when it comes to sneaking up on and catching little tiny frogs and toads with nothing more than my bare hands. In the dark. In the rain. ROCK I TELL YA! :)
#2: You can fit an extraordinary amount of amphibians in an empty 44oz. Speedway cup. Looked a tad awkward for them but...
#3: Crawdads crossing the road in the dark look an awful lot like giant spiders. Which should be noted that in the moment is utterly terrifying. :(
#4: Judging from the sound of laughter coming from the van as I exercised my ninja-like froggin' skills...I do NOT look nearly as stinkin' cute as my daughter Libby does when she does it.
The End.
Great story!! Thanks for sharing it!
ReplyDeleteI am in awe of your critter catching skills! I bet hairy legged huntsmen spiders wouldn't worry you either.
ReplyDeleteNot so big on furry spiders. I'm such a hypocrite. :/
DeleteWell, I do love jumping spiders. Super cute! And black and yellow garden spiders are absolutely gorgeous. Those are okay. The rest I'm just fine with admiring from afar. Really afar.
Hilarious! LOL Every couple weeks we let our kiddos stay up late and go "frog hunting" around our yard and back field. It's all good until someone brings a bucket in the house. They NEVER stay in the bucket! :)
ReplyDeleteJamie, bet you have fun catching escapees! :D
DeleteOn rainy nights I'll take the kids froggin'. We live out in the country and I follow behind them in the van while they rescue potential amphibious roadkill. I'm sure we look odd with the kids walking in the rain in jammies carrying nets and containers.
Just doing what I can to help foster the stereotype about those weird homeschoolers. ;)
bwahahahahahahahahah. This was so cute to read! My son would want me to rescue them too. We try to catch the ones we can as they make their way across our garden to the creek.
ReplyDeleteCome check out our Farm Fresh Adventures
HaHaHaHa - such fun to read! I have a family of amphibian loving children also - Mom? not so much. This little story reminds me of the time my daughter adopted a baby snapping turtle which got loose in the house and it was up to me to impound him in the wee hours of the morning while nursing the baby and not waking the rest of the household. What we homeschooling mothers do, it borders on superherodom. You rock mom!
ReplyDeletestopping by from Real Life Homeschool