The Difference between Moms and Dads

The difference in parenting styles was never more apparant last night at our house. I was putting Michaela to bed - a routine which consists of reading, singing, praying - you know, those things that generally have a calming effect on children and prepare them for sleep. Josh came into the room with his hands behind his back and said, "I have a little friend who wants to say goodnight to you." He then proceeded to pull out a huge toad (I was expecting the cat!) and stick it in front of our faces (after a lengthy discussion of the matter, he says he held it in front of us; I still say he stuck it in our faces). Michaela's reaction was not helped by the fact that mommy reacted adversely ("Ahh! Get it out!")! But I was totally surprised. After 2 minutes of terrified crying, I finally got Michaela to calm down by telling her daddy had taken the frog outside. We then proceeded to go to bed - although this time Michaela got up 3 times to talk about the frog and make sure it really was outside. Josh said, "Usually she likes frogs." And I proceeded to explain that the presentation of the frog was unusually disturbing. He might have gone about it in a slightly different way. As I said - the difference between moms and dads!