11.04.2008

(Updated).....on to the really important matters....

The elections our over, hooray.
Now, PUH-LEASE, can we get on to a more pressing matter?
What shall I do with the slightly dead, but slightly alive, (name the movie), Beta fish in the kid's fish bowl? I keep thinking it is dead, jiggle the bowl & see a slight flutter. Do I put it out of it's misery? It isn't officially belly up yet, but definitely not quite belly down.

Flush it before the kids see it?
Give it a proper memorial and resting place in the flower bed tomorrow?
Send Daddy on a top secret buy-a-look-alike-fish-to-replace-it mission?

Advice, please.

****UPDATE****
Estimated time of death: 11:00 a.m.
Mom scooped.
Son dumped.
Daughter flushed, with squeal of delight.
Together we all said in cheery voices, "Bye-bye LouLou Shoes Blue Shoes!"

Son looks up at mom and says, "Now we can get a pygmy goat!"

Crap. There goes the excuse I had been giving as to why we couldn't get something else (not to mention the very neglected dog in the backyard). Life and death is much more complicated and over-analyzed to us in the older crowd.

I should have gone with the replacement fish.

15 comments:

  1. My dad was telling me the other day that when he was younger, he had a fish that was on the verge of belly-up, and his mom revived it my using an eye-dropper to put two drops of whiskey in the water, and the fish lived for 3 more years!

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  2. My kids were 3 and 1 when our fish died, so they didn't really care all that much. We flushed it down the toilet and that confused our 3 year old, but she doesn't even remember it anymore. We are currently fish free.

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  3. My hubby says go get a look alike. They don't understand death at that age. (5,3 &1 right?)
    I would say unless you have a kid that is older than 7, go get a secret new one.
    I like Janelle's idea except I'd have to go buy whiskey for two drops and then what do I do with the rest? And what if the Bishop comes over to help me pack...umm...I'd rather spend the money on a fish. I think it would probably be the same price.

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  4. Princess Bride, right? :o)

    I vote either for a look alike or the flush. "All drains lead to the ocean..."

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  5. Ok, this exact thing is happening to us right now. Betta fish, half-dead, half-alive. It was purchased to replace a goldfish that was given to my kids at a birthday party (please for the love of all that is holy, NEVER do that!!). Now this stupid fish is dying, too! I thought bettas were supposed to be hardy fish, that's why I bought this one.
    I think sneaking out and replacing it is a great idea.

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  6. The Princess Bride. Only my most favorite movie ever. I have a friend who recently went and bought some cheap fish for the sole purpose of teaching her children about death. She felt they were confused by thier favorite movie, Sleeping Beauty. So, when the fish inevidable died, she had the "everything dies" talk with a 3 and 2-year-old. They couldn't have cared less. I say flush it and tell them the truth.

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  7. I think that everyone, kids included, need to understand that sometimes things die. I talk to my son about this a lot. Hidding the fact won't help.

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  8. I think the real question is do YOU want fish. Cause lets face it until the kids hit 10-12 you are taking care of them.

    My mother always had us do funerals for our dead pets. Of course I had my first grandparent die at 2 1/2, so we got the death thing early. I don't think I turned out too messed up from it either. I plan on explaining death to my kid(maybe kids by the time that happens) when we face it. besides, a fish dying is a whole lot easier to explain than a grandparent.

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  9. We actually have the death thing taken care of- Grandma died aboug 6 months ago & suprisingly, my kids really aren't confused about the whole thing, they know her body is in the ground and that her "spirit" is with Heavenly Father & Jesus, etc. They actually "get it."
    We will see how things survive today....

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  10. Our Betta died recently and we gave it a proper funeral and burial in the back yard. All the neighbor kids came over and my 3-year-old said a few words. But honestly? I wonder if she would have noticed if I had flushed it.

    We didn't get another one. Yet.

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  11. Yeah I thought about it and the more I think on it, it depends on if YOU want the fish or not. Flush it is my vote now....hubby's still for getting a new one. (Can you tell who feeds the dogs over here??)

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  12. How funny!! Thanks for the laugh.

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  13. We are having the same thing happening at our house right now. My 2 year old thinks it is fun to flush the fish. We have flushed 2 of 3 gold fish.

    BTW Your Salsa recipe is WONDERFUL!!! I made a batch last week. My Husband has been taking a pint for lunch, his friends wife has been making them homemade tortilla chips to go with it. Thanks for the great recipe!

    Dy

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  14. Love it! I want to see pictures if you do end up getting the goat. hahaha. (I can just picture it.)

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  15. How does your son know what a pygmy goat is? You've got a little brainiac!

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