Three years ago, DH thought it would be a great idea to allow Thomas to play a carnival game in which the prize was a goldfish. And he won ... yay! You can imagine how that turned out. First, we went out and bought all of the fancy equipment goldfish apparently require these days (filter, 10 gallon tank, rocks, and other decorations - I was able to talk Thomas out of the animatronic pirate chest that opened every few seconds). Our goldfish only survived about a week despite the perfect goldfish environment and one treatment for ICH (yes, this is a real goldfish malady and is pronounced ICK). So, now that Kick had left us for the great sewer beyond, we had all of this great goldfish equipment ... we couldn't just let it go to waste, now!
Enter Wade and Lazer. Apparently, when you actually purchase goldfish at the pet store, they tend to be a little healthier. Huh. Fast forward THREE YEARS ... Wade and Lazer have distinct personalities, and have been two peas in a pod happily sharing their little fish environment. Wade is totally laid back and easy going. He doesn't make a fuss, eats his fair share and doesn't make too much of a mess. Lazer on the other hand is drama city.
One day he started doing this thing where he would just hang out upside down ... not at the top of the water, but at the bottom. We thought something was wrong, but as soon as we'd approach the tank, he'd flip himself around and start swimming around completely normal. Once we fed him, he'd swim around completely normal for a few more days. Then the upside down action would start up again.
Another day, he did actually appear to be struggling for air. We fished him out, and put him in a bowl of fresher water. It was time to clean the tank so we scrubbed it down, changed out the filter and periodically checked on Lazer. Miraculously, he seemed to regain his strength and by the time we were ready to put him back in the tank, he was swimming upright and breathing well. A pretty dramatic display just to let us know he wanted the tank clean!
You're probably waiting for the part when I start talking about what a great lesson owning fish has been for the boys. Surely they are learning responsibility in taking care of a pet, right? Well aside from the occasional feeding, they get to stand by and be spectators in their growing fishes' lives. The tank is huge so impossible for them to truly help clean, and it sits up on the top of their dresser so it's difficult for them to really even reach it very well to feed the poor guys.
So, I get to do it. DH isn't necessarily opposed to it, but he does plenty to take care of the house, children and even the dog, so I definitely felt some obligation to take care of it myself. Typical mom.
Cleaning the fish tank is by far the most repulsive, disgusting, nasty pet duty there is. Truly. It's worse than anything I've ever had to do for the dog, and worse than anything I've ever experienced in our brief ownership of hamsters. Between the rocks, lid, sides of the tank, filter and all of its multiple parts, all covered in some level of fish excrement and rotted fish food, it was something I tried to avoid until it was absolutely, positively necessary.
A week ago we'd just returned from vacation and I'd been putting off cleaning the tank for a VERY long time. Probably the longest stretch since we'd brought the little slimers home. Thomas had been asking me for weeks, "Mom, when are you going to clean the fish tank?" to which I'd reply in my most annoyed voice, "I'll get to it when I can, buddy." Which could be translated into ... I wish I didn't ever have to clean that f*%9@ tank again!
So, we were still unloading the car and Thomas came down with his eyes as big as saucers and his eyes already taking on that red look just before the tears start to flow. "Mom, something's wrong with Lazer. I think he's dead." I sort of brushed it off ... is he upside down? "Yes." Is he at the top or the bottom? "The bottom." He's fine, I said. I was focused on getting to the grocery store since we'd been gone for 10 days and had no food in the house and it was getting dangerously close to dinner time. Lazer was just being his dramatic self.
As I was making my way through the grocery aisles, I got a text from DH. "The orange fish is a goner." I text him back to ask if he was going to tell the boys. Nope, that would be my job, as well, apparently. Luckily, he was already taking care of it when I got home. The boys were sad, mostly Andrew since Lazer was apparently "his" since he'd given him his name. There was talk of a ceremony and maybe someday getting another fish. I asked Andrew if he wanted to say goodbye to Lazer, or would he rather remember him as he was. He wanted to go upstairs and see him, until DH said, "That's not possible." Ah. Luckily, Andrew took that fairly well.
We didn't quite get around to the ceremony (we are sounding less and less like parents of the year here) and Andrew asked a couple of times when we were going to do it. I was able to put it off until Saturday evening Mass when I reminded him to day a little prayer for Lazer, hoping that would do it. So far so good.
Earlier this week, Thomas asked if he could help me clean the fish tank. My sweet, smart boy. So, today was our day. I think he got a true feel for the back breaking, knee crushing, disgusting sewage managing project it is. At one point I asked him, "Do you see now why Mommy doesn't enjoy this job?" Point taken.
Wade is now happily swimming in his crystal clear water. He also appears to be rolling with the loss of his crazy dramatic tank mate ... maybe a little too well? Hm.
