Kermit's Near Demise

Maddie & I had quite the traumatic experience today. You see, we had an incredible thunderstorm last night, which produced much cooler temperatures today. So, I decided that we should sit outside (when it's not 112 degrees) & enjoy the weather. While sitting there, I saw that our grill cover had collected a large amount of water (we were actually grilling when the torrential downpour began...go figure). But, when I picked it up & emptied the water, two little frogs hopped out. I thought this would be a great teaching experience for Maddie. So, I set her on the ground, pointed out the frogs, made the appropriate "ribbit" sound, etc. She must have thought they were cute, as she immediately crawled for them. I let her do so, assuming the frogs would have some sense of danger & would hop away. But, oh no...one frog just sat there and let my 9 month old pick it up!

Two thoughts immediately went through my head. The first was that she was going to squish it to death & the second was that she might try to eat it (as everything goes into her mouth right now). So, I panicked. I promptly started yelling at her to drop it, while shaking her hand vigorously (must have been a wild ride for that poor frog), to which Maddie appropriately started crying. I finally pried open her fingers & let the frog fall to the ground. It sat there stunned for a moment before it hopped away. I think Maddie & I were also both quite stunned at what had just happened. I soothed her, apologized for yelling, and went back inside leaving the poor, stupid frogs to fend for themselves in this untamed land, full of dangerous babies.