Frog catchin'....or sometimes life really does come full circle

I was never really a girlie-girl.  I had stuffed animals and not dolls, I loved blue-green and not pink, and a day of play for me was a day outside, not with barbie.  Before the age where boys were gross I had several childhood friends with whom I would go frog-catching, snake catching...or sometimes even bird and small animal catching.  For my 10th birthday I asked for wading boots so that I could get in the swamp near our house with the boys.  Up until that point I had been stuck on the shore holding the bucket.  I had a large aquarium in the backyard that held the frog colony and several 10 gallon buckets with the snake collection.  I got the boots I asked for, they were black rubber waders with the letters "HS" on the side of them.  When I opened my presents and tried them on my grandma quipped that those must be my "high society boots".  We grew up, the boys got more into sports and I into art and our worlds grew appart.

A little while ago Ahlem started asking me about frogs.  I realized her interested came from a different angle: she had read a lot of books about princesses kissing frogs and she was intrigued.  When we became Ahlem's  legal guardians 2 years ago I fastened my seatbelt for a wild ride.  We hadn't even had our first anniversary yet; suddenly I was mothering a 4 year old.  And this 4 year old knew what she wanted in life.  I just watched an interview with the Sheryl Sandberg, the COO of Facebook.  She stated that instead of correcting our daughters for having a strong opinion and telling them they're being too bossy we should affirm that they have "executive leadership skills."  I nearly died laughing, Ahlem is off-the-charts in her executive prowess and I expect great things from her.  She wants pink, she wants her tiara, and she IS the princess.  I walk along side Ahlem as she tries to work through what happened with her birth mother.  Sometimes the brokenness of that relationship affects the way she reacts to me; it is one of those things that is hard at the center of your being.  I feel caught in the in-between of loving her so much and being thrilled that she's in our family to being absolutely broken hearted for her that she couldn't have a happily-every-after with her birth mom.  She is such a brave girl; it hurts to watch her struggle.  I saw this sudden interest in frogs as a much needed connection point after a difficult mothering week, "Do you know when I was little I used to catch frogs?"  "REALLY MOM??? Can we catch some?? Please???"  The frog hunt was on.

So we donned our rubber boots, thankfully rubber boots are now a lot cuter than my old high society pair.  We were both wearing dresses...as you do to catch frogs.  We set out with a small jar in hand and girlie's hopes running high.  The one place I knew we could find frogs was a swanky golf course in our area...the water hazards...and so off we went.  The water hazard was near the tee off for hole 2...um..yeah...we got some looks and honestly we were a sight to be seen.  Wading into water that I don't even want to think about I realized that this was going to be a bit more challenging than I anticipated because Tunisian frogs are BIG...nothing like the little tree frogs I used to catch at home and they're also FAST.  I was feeling that my old skills were long gone and I was also feeling a little like the scene out of Duck Dynasty when the rednecks sneak onto a golf course to catch bull frogs...as people in preppy shirts drove by on their golf carts. We tried everything, we tried sitting still, Ahlem tried singing to the frogs, but they were always just out of reach.  Then we found it, a shallow area with a group of tiny baby frogs and like a flash I scooped them into the jar.  Apparently I haven't lost my touch.  We are now the proud owners of two tiny frogs, "John and Bridget"...don't ask me.  Now what have I gotten myself into?  The princess asked for the frogs to sleep in her room tonight, I just hope she doesn't try to kiss one.  Sometimes I just have to say thank you for a beautiful parenting moment of love, connection, and enjoying the world together.