enough

Sometimes I think we've carried the whole homeschooling bit too far. Everything's a learning experience, no educational topic is tabu, everything is a teachable moment - which is why there is a live toad in my living room.

Toads are gross - they are.

Spiders don't bother me, I didn't even screech when the bats were swooping in Crystal Cave, and I actually like those little red eyed tree frogs, but toads - come on.

It was Kooka who rescued it. She plucked it from Ms. Liz's pool where she and Punk were swimming. Both kids were fascinated and asked Ms. Liz if they could keep it. I hoped Ms. Liz would say something sensible about the delicate ecosystem around her house, or that it was a very rare toad that could only survive in her nutrient-rich soil, but no - she eagerly went to get a bucket, picked it up with her own hands and bequeathed it to the toad whisperer and her eager assitant Dr. Doolittle. Thanks Ms. Liz.

I mention the poison glands that toads have. I reiterate the gross factor, the fact that the dogs will get sick if they eat him . . but they are not swayed.

So we're in the car heading home, when Punk asks if we can make a terrarium for the little guy to live in. I take him to the pet store, and suddenly realize that we are fresh out of toad chow. The pet store lady informs us that he probably needs to eat crickets, grubs, or maybe wingless fruit flies. WHATEVER! Like that is going to happen - I figure Punk will balk at the mere mention of live food, or plucking the wings from an inocent fruit fly, but nooooooooo, Captain Planet says, "Well, that's how nature works."

We finally compromise on some frog & tadpole pellets, and decide if he won't eat those, we'll set him free. The pet store lady asks what the toad's name is. Kooka says, "Well you know, most amphibians start out as girls, and some turn into boys, so naming him will be hard."

Punk is anxious to get their little buddy into his new digs, and get him out of the little cup of pool water. "We need to get him out of this chlorine, frogs & toads drink through their skin and it's like he's drinking poison."

"How do you know?" I asked him - I didn't know that.

"Um," he says, "I read."

It's a good thing they're showing some autonomy in ths department. They won't be getting any help from me.

Toads are gross. Did I mention that?