Pets? Really?

My kids really want a pet. Bad. It's getting sad the things that they are starting to call pets. The wonderful state of Missouri allows us to catch numerous frogs in our backyard, along with turtles, and other little critters. None of them are allowed in the house, so there has been many a morning where a dried up, thirsty, hungry, caged pet has left this earth and moved on to better places. Some are able to escape, but most meet their demise. We have now made a rule that most animals can be caught, looked at, admired, and taken pictures of, but before bedtime they must be let go to find their own homes. The toad in this picture was a survivor. The snail, however, has a different fate. Ethan has named him "Gary, Larry, Jerry" in honor of all those snails Spongebob has taken care of over the years. He even let him out on the lawn this afternoon for a time to "get a drink, some food, and some exercise". He is now sleeping in Ethan's bug catcher in the garage. Our garage has no windows. Remember it is still July. I think we all know the outcome of this situation. You might wonder why I don't allow this small creature to sleep in his home atop a dresser in my sons bedroom. Last summer I fell for that with the crickets. Once that bug catcher tipped over we heard chirping in our home for the next 4 months. The garage will do just fine.