Zen and the Art of Motherhood

...if you shine a flashlight into a frog's eyes at night, he'll freeze in his tracks, allowing you to catch it easily? Its kind of like the deer in headlights thing.

Now I understand this may go under the I-didn't-know-and-frankly-don't-care category for most folks. Who wants to catch those slimy creatures anyway?

Our very own Pond Boy, of course. He talked his dad into a night-time excursion (on a Friday night, no less) down to the water to test his latest theory. One hour, three laps around and five frogs later, he made the following conclusions.

1. You have to shine the light directly into their eyes or it won't work.
2. It doesn't work if you go in the water after them. His shoes, pants and muddy legs can attest to this little factoid.
3. This was way fun!
4. He's none too pleased with Mom's strict catch-and-release policy.

I, however, am very thankful that this little field experiment didn't net us five new hopping additions to our brood. In the meantime, a few good lessons were learned. Pond Boy unwittingly put his school work into action -- and liked it! He also is gaining valuable skills in building persuasive arguments. Dad enjoyed a nice bonding experience with his son. As for me, I thoroughly enjoyed one hour of peace and quiet. In my book, it doesn't get much better than that.