Sad Froggie House

I am not so gung-ho over our frogs anymore.

In fact, I'm kind of sad and annoyed all at the same time. A few weeks ago, one of our frogs died. I found him floating one morning, fished him out and had to break the news to Big Girl when she woke up. She was incredibly sad about it. She mourned on and off for days.

My pet frog solution -- getting these little frogs to ease over the "we don't have a pet" issue since our dog died last summer -- totally backfired. It's summer. Our dog died in the summer. Now this frog died in the summer. And why does everything die in the summer? she said... Which just happens to be around her birthday, she reminded me.

I was at a loss, other than to just say sometimes this happens. The frog wasn't well, likely. We can't help it.

I was sort of flabbergasted, because our friends with these little frogs have had them for years. And they seem to put less thought into their care than I did. We fed them religiously on the day they were to be fed. I watched the water for signs to change it. (My husband blames the air conditioning. Our downstairs AC just happens to be located in that room, but I don't keep it freezing -- it's set at 75 degrees. Should be OK, but who knows? My husband also thinks I was nuts for getting the frogs, since they are like goldfish and just set kids up for future disappointment. Like now! He was right! Darn husband.)

I sent the company an e-mail to ask if the remaining frog would be OK by himself. Big Girl was concerned, and frankly so was I -- would he die of loneliness? Do they need to be a "pair?" Should I clean the tank because I dead frog was in it?

A representative from the company wrote back with her sympathies, said he would be OK and as a precaution, to change the water, which I did. She also offered to send up another frog to the store were we bought it, and I told Big Girl that.

In the meantime, my daughter distanced herself from the whole situation. Avoided the dining room where the frog tank was, didn't want to practice piano which is in the same room, got a little cranky. So I rearranged the dining room and moved it to a less conspicuous location to try and eliminate the sad reminder.

Last week, she slightly panicked and wondered if the remaining frog was being fed because she had basically took herself out of the equation. (Yes, Mommy has been feeding him! And checking on him 40 times a day!) And she asked about getting that other frog, so I called the store to ask. The store said they had a frog I could have immediately if I wanted it, so I drove over, picked it up, and surprised Big Girl with it after dinner one night. We put him in the tank, and all was well.

Or so I thought.

Saturday night, I was heading to bed and I peeked in the dining room at the frog tank. (I always do, since the dead frog incident. I'm paranoid and a worry wart. Have you figured that out yet?)

And sure enough, one of them was belly up. On the bottom. I picked up the tank to see if he would move.

He didn't.

So less than a week after arriving at our house, our new frog (at least I think it's the new one because the live one hid in the corner and our old frog does that) kicked the bucket.

I dreaded telling Big Girl in the morning. She took it hard, but hopefully will recover faster. I told her that I researched the company and apparently frog loss is common at their headquarters and in their shipping process. And that PETA is always after them for not being the most caring frog company. (Her response: "Are PETA the ones that are always outside of the circus?" Why, yes! I explained that PETA can be a little extreme but also do some good sometimes too. Oh, these life lessons...)

So now we are a one-frog family, if I don't kill this one next by traumatizing him when I check to make sure he's still moving 40 times a day because he's hiding in the corner often. I'm telling you, this last little frog better live a longer life. At least until we get another dog to ease the pain.