A Fish and a Funeral (for a fish)

Last week Amanda and Dad went on a grand excursion to get another little goldfish. However, since the nearby, more expensive store was a little too pushy trying to sell their more expensive bigger fish, Dad took Amanda to a different store, from which she returned with two fish. Jared was very excited about the fish, too, and after much debate, they decided that Amanda could name one and Jared could name the other. Her fish: Bi Spot (III). His fish: Cheesy (II). (We seem to have a finite number of fish names in our data base.)

Mom kept wondering when to blog about them, considering the short life of the last feeder fish. Today seemed good, since then the fish could be advertised as having been with us for a week already. Or so we thought . . . Bi Spot (III), yes, but alas, poor Cheesy (II), who we didn't really know that well.

In the past, Mom has usually tried to downplay fish deaths by performing quiet flushings on her own. Today, however, it seemed appropriate to let the kids be involved. So, at bed time, Mom broke the news to Amanda, in Jared's hearing. Amanda said she wanted to help "bury" Cheesy (II), so Jared said he wanted to help, too. Mom fished out the fish, taking time to show Jared that it really was dead, unlike the other two fish swimming around in the tank ("But his eyes are wide open!" said Jared). Then the Muffins followed Mom to the bathroom. Amanda placed the fish in the flushing chamber, and then she let Jared close the lid while she performed the flush (Jared opened to lid to peek as the flush swirled).

Then came the tears. Jared and Amanda were both so sad about the loss of the cute little orange fish. But then they remembered the two fish still alive and felt a little better. Especially since all the Muffins from Curtis on up got to help feed the surviving fish (don't worry; Mom portioned out the normal meal; if they go, it won't be from overfeeding tonight). And, of course, a few bedtime stories about non-fishy things helped, too.