But on Saturday I decided to surprise my kids and let them each pick out their own fish. They were so excited and to be honest, I was too. We went to Petco and they made their selections. My son chose a black and orange fish and my daughter chose a small pink one. We bought some colorful rocks and of course food.
I have very little fish raising experience. I have owned a few in my lifetime, but was not ever very knowledgable. I did know that fish will die at some point. So I decided to tell my kids that sometimes fish die and we don't always know why. I told them that if anything happened to these ones, we would just get more.
The kids were thrilled! They named them "Cupcake" & "Basketball". I felt like the best mom. My kids were pet owners and the fish were still alive after 24 hours!
The excitement was short lived though. We woke up to two dead fish on Tuesday morning. So much for my best mom award I was hoping to receive:) I figured my kids might have a hard time and be sad. I was wrong. When I told my daughter that the fish had died and we have to get new ones, her response was "Ok!" No tears, no sadness, just "Ok!" My son, when I told him, said "Ok, can I get a blue one?"
I just had to laugh! I felt like I had let my kids down and there response showed me otherwise.
So, here we go again! Second round of fish was purchased today. Hopefully we can keep these ones alive a little longer. Lesson learned: sometimes you just gotta laugh! Life can be so overwhelming and serious. It's nice to take the time to laugh and enjoy the moment! Even if that moment is spent buying and re-buying fish.
Meet "Football" & "Lemonade" :)
We were given a 5 gallon fish tank years ago, and I knew nothing about how to care for fish. We bought a goldfish or something, and within 24 hours, it had died. No one ever told me not to place a saltwater shell into the same tank as a freshwater fish!
ReplyDeleteSo, out went the shell. I cleaned out the tank with a new sponge so it would be fresh and clean for the new fish. In went the new fish...and within a couple of hours, it had died.
No one had told me that using sponges or equipment not designed for fish tanks wasn't a good idea! (Brand new sponges contain a small amount of cleaning product in them to keep them smelling fresh. That got into the fish water, and killed the fish.)
Well, years later, after having a 55-gallon fish tank for about 10 years, plus beta tanks, etc., we have sure learned a lot about how to care for fish.
(Here's a hint: you may want to try purchasing your fish at Atlantis on Stephens instead of Petco.)
Hope these new fish do well! :) It was a great way to introduce our children to caring for pets in small ways. We love our fish!