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Parenthood

Sometimes, reading "Frog and Toad," I worry that I'm giving my son terrible lessons about co-dependence.
Take "The List." This is a story in which--predictably--Toad loses his mind.


Like any neurotic, Toad struggles with the concept of time. (Time has to do with boundaries, and a neurotic can't really handle time, or money, or any other "boundary thing.")


 You'll notice that time comes up again and again in the Lobel works: the one about mail, the one about springtime, the one about Christmas. (Time--and falling asleep. Toad--deeply-depressed--is often shown as falling asleep, or deep in sleep.)
 

To manage his time obsession, Toad structures his day with a to-do list. It's ridiculous. It's like: "Take a shower. Have a walk. Clean ears. Skip through meadow. See Frog. Fly a kite. Drink tea. Go to sleep."


Toad gets to Frog, but his list flies away, and, unlike a normal person, he can't function. He has a full meltdown. (HOW DO I LIVE WITHOUT THE LIST?)


 Frog--strangely-tolerant Frog--ultimately says, "Why don't we just have a rest?" And Toad says, "Yes! Rest! THAT WAS ON THE LIST!"


Cute. 


I wonder, though.


I wonder: Is Frog aiding and abetting Toad's lunacy? Could Frog benefit from Al-Anon? Would an intervention be appropriate? Not: "Let's have a rest." Instead: "You must get counseling, or you will self-destruct."


These are the thoughts that run through my head. But my son is mostly quiet. He likes the pictures.


Really, though, where is the serious, probing, critical essay about all of this?


More later.
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