Fishy, Fishy

Where in the world do you start a story when you know it has a sad, traumatic ending? Hmm...

Caleb brought two goldfish home from our church carnival a few weeks ago. We passed by the Go Fish game, and I said, "Come on, let's get Caleb a goldfish!" Jonathan said, "We don't need a fish plus it'll be dead in a matter of days." I quickly convinced him that it'd be well taken care of and that Caleb would love it. Both of those things ended up being true. I did take very good care of the two fish AND Caleb did, in fact, love his goldfish. He'd watch them during meals and say "Fishy!" and he'd help me feed them...surprisingly very careful around the fish. I might as well go ahead and repeat the fact that I did take very VERY good care of these fish...did everything I was supposed to do to keep them alive. I don't have a very good track record with fish. In college, I had a few Betas that never lived very long, so Jonathan was kidding me from the get-go that I'd end up killing these poor little fish. SOOO, I set out to prove him wrong. ;) Well...

About 10 days later, I found the smaller one floating...oops! I disposed of it and then thought it'd be best to clean the water. I was in the process of changing the water in the bowl when the bigger fish flopped out of the bowl and into the sink. Not just into the sink...but DOWN THE DISPOSAL!!! My heart about stopped! How in the world am I supposed to get this spastic floppy fish out of the disposal without cutting my hand 25 times and not end up with fish parts? Fortunately during all of this, Caleb was asleep. I would have cried if he were standing there watching. Anyway, I had to do what I thought was best...and this is where my new name 'fish killer' comes from. I knew I wouldn't be able to get the fish out of the disposal, so I turned it on (very quickly!). I immediately felt like the worst parent alive ultimately killing our little fishy pet, but trust me, if you'd seen just how spastic this fish was, then you would understand...and I bet you would have done the same thing too.

So far, no signs of Caleb remembering Fishy and Fishy. He recognizes fish when looking at pictures and seeing the fish at the doctor's office...but he hasn't missed them I don't think.

Whew! Next year, I think we might pass the Go Fish game right on by!

Until next time, be kind to your family pets! Don't worry...Phoenix and Sully are safe.