Frogenstein

by Lisa Suhay

Life is harsh and as parents we seek to protect our children from sadness for as long as possible.

It was one of those spring days that leads to windows opening for the first time. Unfortunately, a large frog managed to get stuck between the window and screen when I cranked the windows shut at night. The cold snap hit that night and in the morning my sons, ages two and four, were witnesses to the frozen, stuck frog. Opening the window allowed the frogcicle to land on the top of the air conditioner, set at floor level. The boys peered out at the still form. It was awful. The poor thing lying on its back, arms folded neatly across the chest, knees bent and toes crimped with cold where they had been bent around the window edge.

"It's dead? What do you mean dead?" demanded Zoltan, age four. I made a lame attempt at explaining saying, "It was very cold and well..." "So get it a blanket, quick before a bird eats it," he countered. "Nooo!," howled Lan, age two. "It brinked it eyes. Fick it Mom! You fick it, preeease!"

It did blink. But, fick it? Er..um.. fix it? O.K. it's frozen, so we unfreeze it. I looked heavenward and thought aloud, "Amphibian resurrection really isn't my area." Being fresh from the shower and drying my hair the solution came rather naturally to mind. I began to blow dry the frog. Slowly, the frog unfolded. It rolled over, and shakily hopped off of the air conditioner and back into the yard.

"Yeah! Go Mom," Lan shrieked. Big smile of relief. He hopped over. "I give you a frog kiss for dat one Mom."

I looked up again and told the boys that we should say an extra thank you this evening at bedtime, for our froggie friend's miraculous recovery.

The lesson, if there is one aside from checking your windows for frogs, is that we, are in a big hurry to advance our children right out of their childhoods. Every influence from television to toy stores and teachers moves us to push them to new heights. It becomes so easy to forget that these little wonders are just little ones wondering. My theory is that they will find out about death soon enough. I would rather teach them about faith moving both mountains and little green creatures.

The days of frog kisses are precious. I can use all of those that I can get.

Contributed by Lisa Suhay
© 1999 Lisa Suhay
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Lisa Suhay is a freelance writer who lives in Medford, New Jersey. Her work appears regularly in the Philadelphia Inquirer and Newark Star-Ledger.

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