Thankful Sunday, January 10, 2021

 I am thankful for Frog and Toad.

Many of you are probably familiar with the Frog and Toad books by Arnold Lobel.  These beginning readers were first published in the 70's but remain timeless as many classics do. Frog and Toad are good friends who have different adventures together throughout the books. Their problem in the story, The Cookies, in the Frog and Toad Together book is especially relatable to me.

I will paraphrase the story for you. Toad bakes cookies and Frog and Toad decide they are best cookies they have ever eaten. However, they decide that they should stop eating before they get sick. So they have one last cookie and another very last cookie before they realize that they can't stop. Frog explains to Toad that they need will power which is trying very hard to not do something you really want to do. 

So they put them in a box to keep them out of sight, but figure out they can always open the box, Then they tie a string around the box, but they realize that they can just cut the string. Next they put the box on a high shelf before they decide that they can just get a ladder to get the box of cookies down. 

Finally Frog gets a ladder, takes the box down, cuts the string, opens the box and scatters the cookies for the birds. Toad is sad that he has no more cookies, but Frog says, "But we have lots of will power." Toad says, "You can keep it all because I'm going home to bake a cake."

This simple story makes me smile every time because I, too, have tried to stop eating cookies because I don't have lots of will power. I usually start with a box in the freezer, but then...

So for Frog and Toad and the smile they bring to my face, I am thankful