Toad and Salamander

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As some of you may know, our daughter loves animals. I don’t mean like, I mean LOVE. I recently posted about our “house worm”, Herman Hazel. I must say I never thought that I’d have a child that was so fond of insects, bugs, snakes and the like. While I have a healthy respect for reptiles, they make my skin crawl. I’d developed an intense phobia of them that I am continuing to unwind. I’m a whole lot better around them than I used to be, which is a good thing, because Pryce seems to really enjoy them.

A few days ago, my friend sent a text message sharing that a person in North Platte had a fire belly toad and salamander for sale. Ross knows that our girl is into such creatures and thought of Pryce right away. (I’ve been meaning to introduce Ross to you....he’s the cowboy behind the quotes that I’ll be posting at the beginning of my blogs soon!)

So being the good Mama that I am, I sent a message to the lady letting her know I was interested. Though a series of text messages, we secured what was to be Pryce’s birthday present. The child was ecstatic when I shared that we were going to pick up this early gift. She could hardly contain her joy, “Is it a lizard Mama? ‘Cause I really want a lizard. I love them. I want one of my very own.” I just grinned, praying that a salamander was a lizard in her book and that she’d think the toad was cool……….even if she couldn’t touch it!

We met the girl, got the goods and headed back home. Pryce was strangely silent. I asked what was wrong. She looked at me from her booster seat and screamed, “This is the best birthday present EVER!” I think she was just shocked that I agreed to have these living creatures in the house. For Chad, this was a HUGE stretch, then again, even a dog is pushing it.

I explained very clearly that the frog was not to be touched. She was elated however, to find that she could hold the salamander. I think she picked him up about 10 times on Saturday morning. She gave him a tour of the place and told me that he was very happy in his new home. She also promised to keep her room clean. I even heard that I am the best mom in the world! I sure hope she remembers this when she’s 12 and especially and especially when she’s 16. Is there any way that I can use this as leverage? I’m sure going to try.