There is a goldfish in my house. Supermangirl brought it home from day camp in a plastic bag, all flush with excitement because she had won it at the carnival. I had nothing to put it in, so right now it's swimming at the bottom of an old plastic lemonade pitcher. The camp told the girls that they could feed the fish breadcrumbs, and Wonderwoman recalled hearing that goldfish eat lettuce, so there are now unpleasant lumps of bread and lettuce floating at the top of the water. The fish is really tiny, it must be a baby, so I warned Supermangirl that these fish don't live for very long and that she shouldn't grow attached to it. So of course I find her bent over the pitcher this morning, cooing and clucking at the fish, trying to "get its attention". Right before she left this morning, I heard her whisper, "I love you, Fishy."
Oh, no.
I really don't think that Fishy is long for this world. I have absolutely no knack or desire at all for caring for pets or for plants. In my opinion, the only living things that should be allowed to enter my house should be humans. My kids have been bugging me forever to get them a dog. Uh-uh, no way. I don't want the added responsibility, mess, noise, or expense of caring for a pet. My children already provide all the responsibility, mess, noise, and expense that I can handle.
And so I am not running out to the pet store to buy a fish bowl, filter, fish food, or orange plastic fish castle. Fishy is staying in the lemonade pitcher. He'll just have to sink or swim. It's up to God at this point.
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11 hours ago
10 comments:
"I love you fishy."
That is sooooo cute!
Unfortunately, these fish have a short shelf life...
I'm with you as far as the no purchasing the tank et al! Our son brought home, not one, not two but at least 12 darling fishies one day when he was in second grade. Needless to say, I was less than thrilled with his teacher. Oh, and did I mention it was a week or two before Pesach? Well, I didn't own a lemonade pitcher large enough to hold our newly-begotten school, so I ran with the kids to a petstore and bought a starter kit. I think I shelled out around $12 to $14. And the fish were all dead within a week. (Insert frustrated face here)
I currently enforce a "DO NOT BRING IT HOME WITHOUT PERMISSION, OR ELSE!!!!" rule.
my son just asked for a pet. my wife has been dying to get him one for a while now. i will not give in.
In the olden days, gold fish just had a bowl and food. They never lasted long.
When my kids were little we had a cat. My sons are experienced cat-midwives.
My friend's son bought home a fish from camp. She hated that fish, refused to feed it and change the water. The fish lived for 4 years (her kids fed it). Every morning she would pass by it and say, "I wish you would die". And it wouldn't. Finally, I advised her to change the vile, green, opaque water--that would probably kill it.
I was right. :)
You may have an addition to the family. My son's preschool kindly sent home a goldfish one day - erev shabbat. I warned him that goldfish don't live very long. Almost a year a later, he is still siwmmin'.
Some experiences you don't want your kids to have in living color. The fish came home from school and all that was available was a very wide topped bowl that was not terribly deep. One week, two weeks and it was still living, and the kids were getting attached to it. In the third week, while everyone was eating breakfast and watching their fishy, that fish took a leap out of the bowl and fell into the minute crack between the sink and the dishwasher. There is nothing like a fish committing suicide in front of your kids to ruin a morning. By the time I could figure out how to pull out the dishwasher and get to the fish it was dead. And I was pressed into service to stage a fish funeral in the few minutes before the bus arrived for school. I did get them to buy the idea that the fish was going down the toilet rather than getting a four-star burial in the back yard by explaining that since it had lived in the water it had to be buried in the water. My mother never warned me about this aspect of motherhood!
Ashes to ashes...
dust to dust...
H2O to H2O.
Makes perfect sense to me.
ProfK, that is quite a story about the leaping fish!
I once brought home a carnival goldfish that lived for years.
I am totally averse to pets, but we now have a glass enclosure with two snails from the patch of grass in front of our apartment. I should blog about them, along with some photos.
Hope Supermangirl doesn't get too attached to that goldfish of hers.
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