The Toad (#4)

Yesterday, it was a leap of faith.  Today?  A toad.  Yes, a toad.  As I’ve stated before, Noah often inspires me.  And, if I’m paying attention – he teaches me too.  There is much we can learn from our children.  Now…back to this toad.

This afternoon, I arrive at Noah’s school to pick him up from his summer program.  While I’m waiting for him, I check his folder for notes and classroom updates…and instead I find this:

The dreaded yellow slip.  And yes.  He used a scissors and started cutting a toad in half.  A dead toad.  But still.

My reaction?  Total freak out. I mean seriously?  Who does this?  This was something I never did.  Ever.  Because, really.  How gross!  Plus, I would’ve been certain I would’ve ended up with warts for touching the toad.

So back to my freak out.  As a Mom, and admittedly a bit of a neurotic Mom, I was mortified and immediately began thinking of all of the worst case scenarios.  Warning signs of future evil acts.  A torturer of all small animals.  Then my logic took over my emotion and neurosis.  And I remembered he’s a curious boy who loves science.  He’s a boy who, four years ago, asked for the anatomic model of a body.  Which he saw at Barnes & Noble, by the way, so it can’t be that bad.

As Noah came out from his classroom and saw my disapproving face, he said, “Why do you look so sad?”.  I held up the yellow slip.

“Oh.  Can I see it?”

He reads the slip, “Well, first of all, we found the scissors outside.  I didn’t bring them out there”.

Oh.  Well that makes it all better.

“And the toad was dead.  He had, like puked his guts all out”.

Well that’s awesome.  I’m still wondering why, at that point, he would want to cut the toad in half.

“Well, why did you start cutting the toad in half, Noah?”

So matter of factly, he says, “I wanted to see its skeletal structure”.

Oh.  Right.  Well, of course he did.

In that moment of seeing the yellow slip I did something that we all often do.  I judged.  Based on my own experiences.  I judged my own child.  Without seeking to understand.  Without talking to him first.  If I do that, how can I expect others to give him a chance before judging or blaming?

It was another good lesson from Noah today.  And who would’ve thought, it would’ve all started from a toad?