Why Frogs Are Bald
Once upon a time there was a frog who stayed above the water in the pond waaaaaay too long one day. All that time in the sun caused a sunburn so bad that all of his gorgeous, curly green hair fell right out of his slick little head!
I know, I hear ya, "Poor little frog," right?! WRONG!!!! The water was so still just then that he saw his reflection in the pond.
"Wow," he thought to himself, "what a handsome frog!" Imagine his surprise and pleasure when, just then, he realized that handsome frog he was admiring was really himself!
Well, unfortunately, that wasn't the reaction of his friends. Oh, none of them said anything -- they just kept looking anywhere BUT his head when they talked to him. They looked at his ears, and his elbows and even his toes (yes, this frog had ALL those parts!), but they just wouldn't look at his head!
Well this poor frog started to forget what his friends' faces looked like. Sure, he could tell who they were if he looked at the top of their heads or the sides of their face, but not at their faces -- remember,they wouldn't look at HIM when they spoke to him. So, Frederick (that's the frog's name) finally decided he would give up his new-found handsomeness so that things would return to normal with his friends. (A very thoughtful frog!)
So Frederick bought a wig -- the first in frog history - which was actually a major problem! Being the first, there just weren't very many wigs to choose from. There was a dull brown one made from a dead leaf and some mud. But that one was so stiff that you kind of had to balance it on your head. That, of course, is diffciult to do if you're frog! There was a kind of slimy green one made from algae from the pond. That one just kept slipping off. (Besides, it kind of smelled!) Then FINALLY, he saw it -- a soft green - kind of curly- wig made of soft, cushy moss.
As he put the wig on his head and checked his reflection in the pond, Frederick didn't really like what he saw. But, he DID like his friends, VERY much, so on it went.
As he headed to the other side of the pond to see his friends, all the other pond animals had to look twice to recognize him. When they did realize who it was, they kind of shook their heads and went back to what they were doing.
When Frederick reached his friends on the other side of the pond, he got what he was looking for -- his friends all looked him in the face!
Well, actually, they all STARED.
Then Theodore Toad finally asked what they were all thinking. "What IS that thing on your head, Fred?!"
Once Frederick had explained the whole reason for the wig, his friends all apologized for having acted differently around him. They told him they had been afraid that they would hurt HIS feelings if they looked at his bald head too long, but that they never stopped caring about him. "Honestly," his friends admitted, "you look SO handsome without your hair, I'm going to give it a shot!"
The trend spread rapidly throughout the world until finally EVERY frog had decided to go bald! After generations of shaving and polishing shiny green bald heads, tadpoles started hatching with NO hair. Their descendants are the frogs at our ponds today!!
Well, back to our original story!
Dear old Frederick couldn't have been happier! Truth be told, even that cushy moss made his head itch; and he DID think it looked a bit TOO much like his old hair.
See, ever since he was just a tadpole everyone had always told Frederick he had "gorgeous" green curly hair. He, however had always thought that "gorgeous" green curly hair of his looked pretty much like a Brillo pad stuck to the top of his head!"
"Just think," thought Frederick. "I've wasted all this time trying to look like I thought other people wanted me to, and I haven't enjoyed it one bit!"
"And to think, I could have been spending that time just enjoying finally being handsome!!"
Then and there, he made a promise to himself to trust his own choices and no try so hard to please other people.
So a much wiser and happier (and much less itchy!)Frederick gave his friends a BIG (actually frognormous!) grin. Then, with a fancy flourish, he pulled off that crazy wig and flung it clear across the pond into a small grove of pretty small trees. (Which is a pretty good throw for a frog, you know.)
And today, if you walk to the far side of the pond into the small grove of not-so-small-anymore trees, you'll notice that once you hit the shade of the trees, the ground under your feet starts to feel a lot softer -- kind of cushy even. If you'll look down, you'll see that the small piece of moss that Frederick once wore as a wig has now grown into a lush covering in the woods!
And if you listen closely, you'll hear old Frederick's descendants croaking, "Doesn't itch! Doesn't Itch! Doesn't Itch!"
And that, dear children, is why frogs are bald!!!!!
