*sigh*

An email was sent out to the parents in Anna’s class last week asking if anyone would like to take home the class fish. Being that I’m a masochist, I promptly replied “Sure! We’ll take your fish! Anna has been wanting one!” The teacher replied that another mom already said she’d take them but she’d send her an email asking if it would be okay if we took one. I didn’t check my email to respond quickly enough to tell her “no that was okay. She could have both.” When I next checked my email, my fish was on hold and waiting to come home with us.

The next day, I got the bowl all ready for “her” (Anna wanted the girl fish…please don’t make me go into that) so that when we got her home, no fuss-no muss, she’d slip right in and live happily ever after.

You’ll not be surprised to know…that’s not at all how it happened…

Friday afternoon, we get the fish home and I immediately see a very big (or very small depending on how you look at it) problem. I’m going to put this fish into a ½ gallon bowl.

It just came out of a 22 gallon tank. Hmmm. I apologized to “Elsa” and added her to the bowl. I’m absolutely positive she glared at me as if to say, “Are you kidding me?”

No, Elsa, I’m not kidding you. This is where you are to live out the rest of your day. (Yes, day.)

Elsa went into a decline and I was feeling horrible. Anna wasn’t so impressed, either. In addition to much smaller living quarters Elsa also had the challenge of getting used to “new” water. She had been a class pet since last September and was used to her own school water. What a princess! I had no idea goldfish were so high maintenance! I thought you could put them in a bowl and go about your day! Ha! Not in this house!!

That evening, I called my friend and asked if she’d be willing to take Elsa and put her in her fish tank. She wasn’t able to add any more fish to her tank, however, she said we could try her in their koi pond! Brilliant!

Alas, when I woke up the next morning, Elsa was no longer with us. L

I gave Elsa *ahem* a proper burial and when Anna woke up I gently explained to her what had happened. She was sad for a minute and then immediately brightened! “Can we go get a new fish???” Since I thought it unfair that her “first pet” lasted only 15 hours, I agreed to buy her a Beta fish because those last an obnoxiously long time under our care.

The pet store had a hundred betas in their little containers. Red ones, blue ones, flowy ones, spindly ones, and then we saw a beautiful blonde one with billowy fins that looked, I swear, like its name should be Rapunzel. Anna’s eyes got all big and she screamed “I want that one!!!!!” I told her that I wanted that one, too! “She” was really cool!...but not that cool.

$20.00???  Say what?

I told Anna to try again. She was a little disappointed until we went around the corner and saw (doot do da loooooo!!!!) beta babies!!!! Super cutie cute, impossibly tiny, weensie baby betas. I asked the fish guy how much they were.

“$1.99.”

Um, SOLD!

Anna trotted happily to the counter and I happily doled out my $1.99 (plus a few extra dollars for the *micro* food) and we headed home with her (my) new fish. We slipped her into the bowl (which had been cleaned and filled with newly conditioned water (left over from our previous betas)) and she moved right in where she has been living very comfortably for the past 5 and a half days.

 

Anna promised (where have I heard this before?...It sounds so familiar) to feed it every day and clean it “Not like Nathan didn’t do, mom.” But I have to hand it to her, she’s reminded me every day, twice a day to help her feed little “Belle.” We’ll see how long this care and concern lasts but, for now, I’ll take it.