The Sad Saga of Sokka

My husband used to be an animal collector.  On his mission in Alabama, he and his mission companion caught 10 baby turtles and kept them in the sink (in case you were wondering, it was a split sink).  Later while teaching in New Mexico, he caught tarantulas and brought them in for his 3rd graders to see (tarantulas were the school mascot).

So, while driving home from proctoring the SAT last Saturday when we saw a turtle on the road, Jason stopped to take a look and we brought it home.  The boys were so excited.  Josh named the turtle "Sokka" (Avatar: The Last Airbender anyone?).  Jason made a little habitat for it (not versed in identifying reptile gender) in the back yard.  Josh had to rush out a couple of times an hour to check on Sokka.

The next day or so were unseasonably chilly.  Sokka spent most of his time tight inside his shell.  Whether that was due to the temperature or Josh's diligent care is unclear.  At one point, we watched for an hour or so while Sokka stayed with his body half in and half out of the water and his head mostly submerged.  We were uncertain if this was normal behavior for the turtle or if it was stuck or if it was suicidal.  As Jason and I thought about it, we decided that as we didn't really know anything about caring for a turtle and were not prepared to bring it inside, it would be best to return it home.

While that was a relatively easy decision to make, it was a bit difficult to implement.  We decided to have a family discussion about the turtle.  We talked about what we need to be happy (home and family) and what Sokka needed to be happy (home and family - the boys had decided that "he" was a "daddy" turtle).  With tears and heavy hearts, we all decided to take Sokka back to his home.

Here are the boys and Sokka getting ready to head out Sokka's home.

Here is Sokka out of his shell in his shoe box transportation and very friendly in the warmth of the car. 

And Sokka being returned home.

Anyway, it was a very sad day.  We didn't realize how very attached Josh had become to Sokka and there were a lot of tears.  Poor guy.