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Mom's epic quest to rescue her son's pet frog has become a viral sensation

“This. This is motherhood."

moms of tiktok, frogs as pets, pets, kids, funny tiktoks
@brigthsignslearning/TikTok

Not on my watch!

How’s this for the world’s greatest understatement? Moms do a lot for their kids.

Seriously, beyond the obvious sacrifices of, you know, bringing a child into this world through their own body, moms go to almost cartoonish lengths to keep their little ones happy and safe—quite literally wrangling wild animals if they have to.

Or, in this case, luring them out with crickets.

A mom named Shelby Rideout is going viral on TikTok for hilariously documenting her determination, torment—and ultimately, utter exhaustion—while trying to rescue her son’s pet frog who went rogue by hopping into a nearby hole in the bathroom.

Bizarre? Yes. But still relatable? Absolutely.

The whole fiasco started, apparently, when her son wanted to take the frog (aptly named Kermit) out of his habitat to play in the bathroom. You can see how this would be a recipe for disaster.

“The frog jumps around. Literally three seconds. It jumps to the vanity. There’s a freaking construction hole under the vanity. This big frog jumps and is lost in the wall,” Rideout says in the clip.

With her son in “hysterics” over the M.I.A. amphibian, Rideout became hellbent on saving the day, which is why we find her in the video hunkered down in the bathroom closet, trying to wait Kermit out.

“My son’s asleep in hysterics, thinking he’s going to have a dead frog in the wall — not on my watch,” she declares.

@brightsignslearning I am over 1 hour into a legit stand off. #frog #momlife #longnight #momsoftiktok #fyp #standoff ♬ original sound - brightsignslearning

You’d think a trap with a delicious cricket waiting inside and a bowl of water would do the trick. But sadly, no luck. Rideout even “prayed to Saint Anthony.” Still nadda.

“I wish I could tell you I was joking. I’ve been in the closet for an hour,” she says. But since the frog began popping its head out, there’s no way she can give up.

“This. This is motherhood,” one person commented.

Another hour goes by, and Rideout posts a follow-up video. At this point, her original video has been viewed 8.9 million times.

Voice gravelly, eyes bloodshot, Rideout has tried using various other strategies—more crickets, a plastic fish tank tube, fake sounds to make him think he’s being chased—all to no avail.

Luckily, someone suggests that Rideout turn off the lights to make Kermit more comfortable. Sure enough, that works.

@brightsignslearning UPDATE- Frog in the wall! #momlife #frog #standoff #rescue #momsoftiktok #fyp ♬ original sound - brightsignslearning

“I got him! Got him! I got him! I got him! I got him!” Rideout cries right before admitting, “We had a fish die from mouth to mouth. I could not have two deaths on me this week.” That in itself is a whole other crazy story.

All in all, people were just as thrilled about Rideout’s victory as she was. And they couldn’t help but commend her dedication.

One person wrote, “And the award for the best mom ever goes out to…”

Another added, “Your son will never forget how much effort you put in for him.”

It might not always involve frog rescues, but so many moms out there would do equally crazy things for their kids. God bless their resolve.

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