Day 22: Our Pet

As I was trying to decide what I wanted to carve into my legacy tonight in my post, I decided too many nights my posts are boring, because they are accurate reflections of many of my days. It's hard to have non-stop fun when you are consumed with non-stop chaos. So while contemplating the subject for tonight, I tucked Lucy in and went to turn on her ni-night songs and noticed her fish. Her fish is dead. It has been dead for about a week now ('m only saying a week to ease my guilt). That small confession might get me in some major trouble with PETA or something, but it is the sad truth.

We noticed Lucy's fish died probably a week or two ago. Since then the water level has dropped to about 2 inches. Hey, I've got my hands full with a new baby and potty training, I have ZERO time to take care of the dead fish. Don't worry, it's out of the way up high where the kids don't get it. And don't start judging me thinking that I simply forgot to care for this fish, although it may be slightly true, it's not like you think.

This fish was a replacement fish for Lucy's fish that she got for her second birthday. Fish #1 died when we went to Idaho for Christmas 2 years ago and turned out heat down to 50 degrees while we were going. We didn't think about the fish, and even if we did, we had no idea that 50 degrees would kill a fish. So we quickly replaced it before too much drama occurred. Shortly after fish #2 entered our lives I realized he wasn't going to be the easy going betta that we bargained for. This stupid fish was a pickier eater than my 3 year old was, and that is saying something! The first time I fed him he swam to the bottom and literally turned his nose up to the flakes I gave him. After about 2 weeks of this I started to worry that he was going to die if he didn't eat. So I went to the store like a good fish mother and bought a different kind of betta food. When I came home and fed him, same dang problem. I'm pretty sure we bought the only anorexic fish in the world.

So the fish wouldn't eat. What was worse is what would happen to the food he wouldn't eat, especially the beta pellets. He'd let those pellets soak for days, and do you know what betta pellets that soak for days do? They start to grow. They literally turn into floating snow flakes, white puffy clouds. It's disgusting. Do you know what reaction white puffy clouds in your fish bowl cause in you? You stop feeding you fish. I was sure he would die after a month or so, but I'd feel so bad about not feeding him that I'd think to myself "He hasn't eaten in a week, he's got to be hungry enough now to eat." So I'd try again and nothing. NOTHING. The fish wouldn't eat!

Well he had to be eating something because he lived for 2 years after all this went down. This Christmas was his 2nd birthday. When my mom came out she saw that he was in a sad state, but her attempts to feed him failed too. Seriously, he was a gross fish, his little body started contorting in weird ways and he swam really funny. And to think we picked him because he was the pretty one at the store. But seriously, I tried feeding the dumb thing, but what can you do if they don't eat? I'd feed him once a week or so, but there was always plenty of food floating in his bowl since he never ate it. Do you see the guilt trip he has caused in my life?

Anyway, he died, and we will never get a new fish. Not until our kids have 100% responsibility, that means they clean the bowl. Speaking of cleaning the bowl... Shawn, remember your comment about the pile of dirty baby clothes that were on the floor where I left them for a couple of days? How about that fish bowl and dead fish? Love you ;).