Didn't Think it Through

The frog habitat seemed like such a good idea at the time. It was sitting on the shelf right next to the Ant Gel Habitat, Butterfly Canopy and Sea Monkeys.

I considered my options: Ants could escape their space gel enclosure, find their way into my pantry, start a colony and would probably be holding general elections within 9 months. (I know…ant colonies are monarchies)

The butterfly would start off as a caterpillar, spend weeks as a completely boring chrysalis and then turn into a butterfly that would last 2-14 days, unless we released it into the wild where it would probably die from exposure.

There were also Sea Monkeys, but I became disenchanted with those when I found out that the girl sea monkeys did not have lipstick and hair bows, carry snazzy handbags or play tennis.

I pictured Jonah watching his mail-order tadpole grow and develop into a full-fledged frog. I imagined the excited look on his face as his frog took its first hop. I also figured that after a few months, we’d release the little creature into the wild where it would assimilate itself with the natives and enjoy a happy frog life.

I didn’t spend a lot of time thinking about what frogs eat. I spent even less time considering how long frogs live.

The answer: live crickets and 5 years. Also, according to the frog information pamphlet, we can’t release our frog into the backyard when we are done with it because it would not have the skills to survive. Crap.

And, in a related story, Ethan received a totally cool microscope kit from his cousin Erik for Christmas. Included with the plethora of little parts is a frog dissection kit. Unfortunately for me, Ethan has already informed Jonah that he should not worry because he will NOT dissect his frog.