Crying Over A Stupid Fish

Five years ago sitting at the county fair, some teenagers came over, at the end of our night and asked if my kids wanted their fish. My head went NOOOOOOOOOO but looking at excited little faces well yeah we ended up with a fish tank containing two goldfish - at that time, John and Kathy.

John and Kathy died very quickly, and were replaced by John 2 (John 1 died right on Louis birthday omg) and Elvira. They started out as little stupid feeder goldfish in a ten gallon tank.

And they grew. And grew. And grew.

John got swim bladder disease, my husband fed him by hand for like two weeks until he healed.

We moved them to a big 37 gallon tank in our dining room so that they could have more room. Then they grew some more.

I had lots of fish growing up. I have very strict rules about them. You don't love fish. You don't WORRY about fish. Fish are just fish. They don't love you they don't care about you omg don't bother with them just flush them and be done with it.

Except that, we didn't. We took care of them, and every meal I'd look over and see these amazing creatures swimming with their beautiful, flowing fins. They would twirl around each other and nuzzle one another. We used to joke that they were mates. We also joked that we had their genders wrong. We're not actually sure one way or the other, because I have no idea how you sex a goldfish. But, it was obvious - they were together.

We added two plecos years ago, Snake Plisskin and Rico. They were the local enforcers. Poor Snake Plisskin got some horrible disease and died but we managed to get the tank healthy again.

Two nights ago my husband realized that the nitrites were too high in the big tank. After breakfast on Saturday he was going to go to the pet store, get plants, chemicals, do a big water change etc etc etc.

Apparently they had been too high for too long.  As we started to eat, Elvira started to drift. My husband said "She's not dead is she?" I looked over, and saw her gills moving slowly and said "Well...I don't think so..." and he took one look at her and darted out the door.

I pulled up a chair and as I watched her, thinking JUST HOLD ON ELVIRA OMG WHAT ARE YOU DOING she just stopped. And drifted.

I would say at this point, I wouldn't much care, because FISH WHO CARES GET A NEW FISH. Right then though, John came over and nudged her. Then John nudged her again, and again. He swam away and came back, nudging her like "Get Up. Get UP!" And my heart broke and I started crying like a crazy woman, over a damn fish.

Because she had a mate and he was mourning her and he's just a damn fish and WHY IS HE MOURNING HER. I didn't even know they were capable of caring about each other.

We did an emergency tank transfer so we can clean out the big tank and start over. Ever try to catch fish the size of kittens without killing them? Not easy. My husband will attest to how horrible it is to try to hold onto a pleco with your hand.

I looked through all my pics this morning to find a pic of Elvira and I'm sad I only found one, she's the orange fish behind John who is white.

Rest in peace you stupid fish. I miss you already.
Tweet

Crying Over A Stupid Fish

Five years ago sitting at the county fair, some teenagers came over, at the end of our night and asked if my kids wanted their fish. My head went NOOOOOOOOOO but looking at excited little faces well yeah we ended up with a fish tank containing two goldfish - at that time, John and Kathy.

John and Kathy died very quickly, and were replaced by John 2 (John 1 died right on Louis birthday omg) and Elvira. They started out as little stupid feeder goldfish in a ten gallon tank.

And they grew. And grew. And grew.

John got swim bladder disease, my husband fed him by hand for like two weeks until he healed.

We moved them to a big 37 gallon tank in our dining room so that they could have more room. Then they grew some more.

I had lots of fish growing up. I have very strict rules about them. You don't love fish. You don't WORRY about fish. Fish are just fish. They don't love you they don't care about you omg don't bother with them just flush them and be done with it.

Except that, we didn't. We took care of them, and every meal I'd look over and see these amazing creatures swimming with their beautiful, flowing fins. They would twirl around each other and nuzzle one another. We used to joke that they were mates. We also joked that we had their genders wrong. We're not actually sure one way or the other, because I have no idea how you sex a goldfish. But, it was obvious - they were together.

We added two plecos years ago, Snake Plisskin and Rico. They were the local enforcers. Poor Snake Plisskin got some horrible disease and died but we managed to get the tank healthy again.

Two nights ago my husband realized that the nitrites were too high in the big tank. After breakfast on Saturday he was going to go to the pet store, get plants, chemicals, do a big water change etc etc etc.

Apparently they had been too high for too long.  As we started to eat, Elvira started to drift. My husband said "She's not dead is she?" I looked over, and saw her gills moving slowly and said "Well...I don't think so..." and he took one look at her and darted out the door.

I pulled up a chair and as I watched her, thinking JUST HOLD ON ELVIRA OMG WHAT ARE YOU DOING she just stopped. And drifted.

I would say at this point, I wouldn't much care, because FISH WHO CARES GET A NEW FISH. Right then though, John came over and nudged her. Then John nudged her again, and again. He swam away and came back, nudging her like "Get Up. Get UP!" And my heart broke and I started crying like a crazy woman, over a damn fish.

Because she had a mate and he was mourning her and he's just a damn fish and WHY IS HE MOURNING HER. I didn't even know they were capable of caring about each other.

We did an emergency tank transfer so we can clean out the big tank and start over. Ever try to catch fish the size of kittens without killing them? Not easy. My husband will attest to how horrible it is to try to hold onto a pleco with your hand.

I looked through all my pics this morning to find a pic of Elvira and I'm sad I only found one, she's the orange fish behind John who is white.

Rest in peace you stupid fish. I miss you already.
Tweet

They Are Not Your Children

So, I realize that there may be an outcry of rage at these words, but I seriously just have to put it out there because I'm about to burst.
Your pets are not your children.

Let me back up a moment, because I don't mean to be OVERLY harsh to the childless nor to indicate that you don't love your pets unconditionally. But there are some very basic and irefutable differences that you're going to have to acknowledge.

1. They are pets. I have pets. I adore them. They are precious to me and I've known them about 15 years. You own pets. You do not own children.
2. They have a lifespan of less than 20 years (Human years don't convert and be annoying). In a pet thisis normal, in a child this is a tragedy.
3. You can board a pet, and no that isn't the same as carting them off to Grandma's. You can think it's the same but I'm about 99% sure that Grandma loves the baby and the dog kennel people do not love your dog.
4. When your pet dies, you grieve and are sad and eventually you'll probably get another pet and move on. When your child dies, your heart never heals - even if you have another child.
5. Getting a dog or a cat (but usually it's a dog) does not prepare you for having a child. Not in any way shape or form. It is the equivalent of saying that boot camp prepares you for war. You learn a routine with a dog, and in boot camp. You learn real battle tactics in the field....just like parenthood.
6. Your dog is cute. I don't like dogs no. But yours is cute. No, I don't want to pet him - because he smells like dog that's why.
7. Getting a pet is not really a responsibility, it's a hobby. If it dies, you can replace it with one that looks nearly like it even. You will never know the meaning of your whole life being HAVE TO - unless you have a child. (And this is ok, not everyone SHOULD have a child).

So please, don't tell me that you got a dog because you're thinking about having a baby and you wanted to "have a sense of the responsibility" involved. I swear to GOD the AKC came up with that myth.

Let me make one last point.......just to illustrate how very DIFFERENT having a pet vs. having a child is.

There were two accidents on the floor of this house last week. One by a pet, one by a child. If the pet keeps it up, she's going to live outside.

The child on the other hand - well thats not even on the table now is it?

Get it?

They Are Not Your Children

So, I realize that there may be an outcry of rage at these words, but I seriously just have to put it out there because I'm about to burst.
Your pets are not your children.

Let me back up a moment, because I don't mean to be OVERLY harsh to the childless nor to indicate that you don't love your pets unconditionally. But there are some very basic and irefutable differences that you're going to have to acknowledge.

1. They are pets. I have pets. I adore them. They are precious to me and I've known them about 15 years. You own pets. You do not own children.
2. They have a lifespan of less than 20 years (Human years don't convert and be annoying). In a pet thisis normal, in a child this is a tragedy.
3. You can board a pet, and no that isn't the same as carting them off to Grandma's. You can think it's the same but I'm about 99% sure that Grandma loves the baby and the dog kennel people do not love your dog.
4. When your pet dies, you grieve and are sad and eventually you'll probably get another pet and move on. When your child dies, your heart never heals - even if you have another child.
5. Getting a dog or a cat (but usually it's a dog) does not prepare you for having a child. Not in any way shape or form. It is the equivalent of saying that boot camp prepares you for war. You learn a routine with a dog, and in boot camp. You learn real battle tactics in the field....just like parenthood.
6. Your dog is cute. I don't like dogs no. But yours is cute. No, I don't want to pet him - because he smells like dog that's why.
7. Getting a pet is not really a responsibility, it's a hobby. If it dies, you can replace it with one that looks nearly like it even. You will never know the meaning of your whole life being HAVE TO - unless you have a child. (And this is ok, not everyone SHOULD have a child).

So please, don't tell me that you got a dog because you're thinking about having a baby and you wanted to "have a sense of the responsibility" involved. I swear to GOD the AKC came up with that myth.

Let me make one last point.......just to illustrate how very DIFFERENT having a pet vs. having a child is.

There were two accidents on the floor of this house last week. One by a pet, one by a child. If the pet keeps it up, she's going to live outside.

The child on the other hand - well thats not even on the table now is it?

Get it?