Frog caught your heart?

My daughter, who grew up loving stuffed animal frogs, is now too old for them. {Brief moment of sad reflection.} And so it was time to rehome her amphibian friends.

This was the first to go:

“Rita” the Frog waiting for a ride in the laundry basket.

As I handed the giant frog to her new owner, who is, ironically, a teenage girl, I said, “She goes by Rita, but will respond to anything.”

The girl held the stuffed animal out in front of her and, with a gleam in her eye (the girl’s, not the frog’s), said, “You shall be called, ‘Rita’!”

Clearly, it seemed to me, this girl knew that the name fit.

I reported the happy news to my daughters: Not only had the frog gone to a new loving home, she would be able to retain her name! “Isn’t that wonderful?” I said.

I was met with blank stares. Didn’t my children personify animals the way I did?? Didn’t they care?!

“Uh, Mom,” the youngest of the three finally found the courage to say, “That frog’s name was Katherine.”

So much for me helping Rita/Katherine transition smoothly to her new home.