The Fantabulous Chronicles

In golden days of our youth, we grew up watching a certain magical teacher tell her students to “make mistakes and get messy“ in order to learn all the subjects The Magic School Bus taught in the 90’s.

But hang on a minute! How often do we conveniently forget those pearls of wisdom when it’s our own offspring in the picture?

Instead of letting our kids dive into the wild wonders of muck and blunders, we’re more inclined to swoop in and fix their messes like overenthusiastic repair fairies. It’s like we’re sending the message that rolling around in a muddy puddle is on par with international espionage and that unless they nail it on the first go, they might as well be attempting rocket science. Talk about mismatched vibes with Miss Frizzle!

Speaking of vibes, this little lesson hit home when our window wells suddenly transformed into the hottest frog vacation spot. Around fourteen of these amphibious tourists found their way down but were on a one-way trip to well-bottom central.

Cue Aaron, the brave frog whisperer, who rallied the troops—aka the kids—for an impromptu amphibian rescue mission. And if you thought these trapped frogs would be sluggish and take their time, oh boy, were you wrong!

With zero previous frog-chasing experience, we deployed the junior squad to save the froggy day. Our brave leader, Aaron, jumped into the well like a frog superhero, lowered our mini-explorers down, and the adventure kicked off. Picture this: kids bursting with excitement chasing frogs like it’s a gold medal event, reaching out to grab them like they’re trying to catch the world’s slipperiest ice cream cone.

But, spoiler alert, frogs are the Houdinis of the animal kingdom. They’d elude the kids’ grasp faster than you can say “amphibious escape artist.” It was like watching a real-life frog Olympics, complete with somersaulting frogs and kids performing complex maneuvers to catch them. After much strategizing, they turned into frog-catching dynamos, rescuing seven brave amphibians from their window prison. Frog liberation was complete, they made sure the frogs didn’t end up like baked goods in the grass and escorted them to the nearest frog-friendly tree.

Round two: on to the next window well. This time, with Aaron once again leading the charge, the frog rescue squad sprang into action. And oh my, these frogs must’ve been in superhero training. They had shades of green that would put envy in emeralds, and some even went undercover, hiding under rocks like they were auditioning for spy movies. But five frogs were saved, even though one poor amphibian met its doom pre-rescue. Tears were thankfully avoided, mainly because the kids didn’t notice the sun-baked frog. Our frog-catching warriors were getting the hang of it, practically ready to join the Olympic frog-catching team.

Windows three and four posed no challenge for these pint-sized heroes. Frogs were flying out of wells like confetti at a parade. But then came the ultimate challenge: dodge our dog’s attempts at froggy snack time. Our daughter took on the doggie diversion duty, while our eldest son swooped in, grabbed a frog, and embarked on a froggy marathon to the trees. Let’s just say that frog went on a bit of an unplanned, bumpy journey—froggy parkour, anyone?

So there we were, following Miss Frizzle’s examples, stars of our own messy sitcom, gleefully letting our kids revel in the art of being gloriously messy, gloriously unapologetic, and gloriously, well, kids.

Finally, after ensuring the windows were frog-free, the kids decided they needed to cuddle the frogs once more. It took some grassy detective work, but they managed to snag their frog companions. Seeing their eyes sparkle as they held those slippery creatures was like watching them find a pot of gold.

And so, as the curtain closed on this epic frogventure. The last frogs hopped off into the wilderness, their destinies intertwined with whatever frogs do in their free time. We can only imagine the stories they’ll tell at their froggy reunions. “Remember that time we ended up in the window wells of those crazy humans? Ah, good times!”

Do you have any humorous stories of your kids, just being kids? What curious critters have caught your attention as they roam around your yard this year? Drop a comment and share your sightings! And if this peek into nature intrigued you, don’t forget to show some love by giving us a thumbs up and hitting that subscribe button. Stay tuned for more captivating updates coming your way!