Pillow Talk with Froggy

After three books and many pleadings from me to "GO TO SLEEP!," Froggy asked me to tell her a story about when I was little. She's now six years old and has been asking this question for the last four. I'm running out of material. Big time.

So reaching deep, I remembered a story with a pertinent moral. Pertinent because sometimes she is lacking in empathy and sensitivity for others. I thought I was oh so clever. Tired, but clever.

Froggymama: When mommy was little, I was helping Grandma S. in the garden. She was reaching down into the soil, pulling weeds and tending to all her plants. I stood next to her, watching, as a bee landed on her back. Because I loved my mommy so much, I wanted to make sure she didn't get stung. She had no idea the bee had landed there, so I thought it was up to me to save her! I reached down and picked up that bee, holding it in the palm of my hand. I was so proud of myself for rescuing my mama, I forgot that the bee was still in my hand. And do you know what happened? That silly bee stung me! But the moral of the story is: When you love someone, you would rather get stung than have them hurt. And that's how I feel about you. That's love.

After a long silence, where I thought perhaps the Frog was processing the concept of sacrifice and contemplating her love for her own mother, came this unexpected, yet very Froggy reply:

Froggy: Well, if you'd just left the bee alone, it wouldn't have stung either of you.

And with that, she fell fast asleep.