pet trauma and celebrations

Please allow me to introduce Sydney.  No, no, not the chartreuse piggy...look way back in the corner hiding behind the bright pink sea plant.  There!  That's Sydney.  He's a bit camera shy.  (Yes, Sydney is a boy fish.)   This , my friends, is what happens when you go on a weekend vacation and leave the babies home with Grammy.  *Henry* had a business conference in Spokane this weekend, which happened to fall across our anniversary, so I joined him on a little weekend getaway.  We had a wonderful time staying at The Davenport Hotel, eating at one of our favorite restaurants, and I got to hang out with a super sweet on-line friend, Maegan, who so kindly spent most of her day shopping with me while *Henry* was in his meetings.   (Thank you Maeg!!)  Not to mention the UNBELIEVABLE brunch where we had front row seats to the chocolate fountain, and the 600 thread-count signature hotel linens that *Henry* scooped up from the gift shoppe on the way out.  *sigh*  It was a much needed mini-vacation. 
So back to the issue at hand...the goldfish.   A few weeks ago, while over at Grammy's house for the afternoon, Liv started wishing for a pet.  Grammy, knowing full well that neither *Henry* nor I are big pet people, started egging her on.  The pet prodding started with a puppy, which I consider the most harmless of pets, then went to a hamster or guinea pig.  (Absolutely NOT!  No fluffy rodents in this house!!)  They ended up on a goldfish, which if you know me very well, you'll know that fish are the LAST option I'd want as a pet.  I am terrified of fish.  Worse than spiders, snakes, you name it.  They completely creep me out.  *shudder*  So Liv and Grammy were scheming to get a pet while Mommy and Daddy were away on their trip.   Needless to say, we returned home to a delighted little girl who was the proud owner of new fishy friends!  Grammy had bought her not one, but TWO goldfish, a new little fishbowl, and some pink and purple rocks.  Wait, that's not what the picture looked like, right?  You see where this is heading.
After some heavy persuasion, I convinced everyone that the fishies, Sydney & Olivia (Yes, she named the "girl" fish after herself!  LOL),  should live in Livy's bedroom.  (There was no way the slimy suckers would be living in the KITCHEN where I spend the majority of my day.)    We woke up in the morning and everything looked fine, but there was this terrible stench coming from the fishbowl.  I was so disgusted I quickly shut the door and called my Mom, the one who bought the silly things, to come and clean out the bowl.  We went about our day...took Miss Olivia to school, put Gray down for a nap...and Grammy came over around 2 pm.  She walked upstairs to the bedroom, and there she found it.  Poor little Olivia the fish had passed on to fishy Heaven.  Oh NO!!!  Our little girl would be crushed!!  Grammy scrambled and quickly came up with the option to go to Petsmart to get a new one.  Uh uh!  Nope.  Not gonna happen.  It serves her right for buying our child pets while we were away.  She would not get off that easily!
So we made the deal that Grammy would run and get a new tank, one with a filter and a lid, while I picked up the little sweetie from school.  The problem is that Gram took longer than she thought and we returned home first, and I couldn't keep it from Liv.  We walked up to her room, and saw the one lone Sydney swimming around.  I told her that, "Olivia hadn't always been healthy...she was always a slow swimmer, and the bowl was just too small for two fish."  I explained that Olivia the fish had passed away to go live with all her other friends in Heaven.  She took it so well--Not so much as a tear.  And then, about 5 minutes later, I heard some muffled little sobs.  I found her huddled up hiding behind the couch bawling!!  She was devastated.  It broke my heart!
To make this incredibly long story a little bit longer, Grammy had returned with a new fish-tank, rocks, and some water conditioner.  We followed the directions precisely, and dumped little Sydney into his new home.  You will not believe what happened next!!  The poor little dude had been so traumatized, he floated right to the bottom of the tank and wouldn't move.  Olivia couldn't bear to watch and went downstairs to play.  We hoped that he would pull out of it, but it was looking grim.  I told Grammy to hurry back to the store and see if there were any other fish that resembled Sydney (He has black on the tips of his tail.), before Olivia saw.  I would not have both of her beloved pets die in one day!!  Grammy crept in and went upstairs with the new lively fish hidden in her coat.  She made the swap out, and flushed the old Sydney, that had also passed on by this time, down the toilet.  Phew!!  We called Olivia upstairs to see Sydney #2 swimming skittishly around his new tank.  Crisis averted!!
I was not trained how to handle these little childrearing catastrophes!!  Seriously, the whole situation stressed me right out.  I HATE the scaly fella, but I couldn't help but but scheme a way to get the new fish in there and I PRAY that Sydney lives a long and happy fish life.  I can't  believe I just said that!  LOL 

Okay, if you've made it this far, I'll let you in on a little secret.  Today is my Blog-iversary!!  I'll be doing a give-away to celebrate.  (You know how I love these things!)  This post is already waaaay too long, so check back soon for the details.   Let  the celebrations begin! 

 

Comments

[Deanna]

Aw...poor fishys. I am not looking forward to my boys (4 and almost 2) wanting pets. Who knows what they will want to bring home!

PS-Happy Blogiversary!

[Beth]

Oh yay Kim! Yay? Yay for so many reasons!

1. yay for vacations
2. yay for anniversaries (the hubby kind)
3. yay for hotels & linens
4. yay for online friends
5. yay for Grammies
6. yay for pets
7. yay for sweet little girls like Liv
8. yay for yet another mommy teaching moment (you just HAVE to love those, because they'll never end...)
9. yay for anniversaries (the blog kind)
10. and yay for give-aways! (I LOVE these, so much that I had to find an excuse to do one myself...)
11. yay for long posts
12. yay for long comments

See? Yay!!! Yays, all around!

[Chandra]

I have 2 words for you: betta fish (much easier to take care of & prettier than a plain 'ol goldfish)!

Happy Blog-iversary :D

[Shawn]

I think Sydney looks adorable. I was just thinking a pet fish might be the perfect thing for my new place. Problem is I'd want a fish that looks just like nemo but they're a LOT more work than what I was thinking I really wanted to put into having a pet fish. Maybe a goldfish would be a great substitute for nemo. :) And it sounds like you had a great trip. So jealous that you got to meet Meagan. What a riot! :)

Anyway, happy blog-iversary girl! Hopefully I can catch ya online tonight so we can chat about that bag. :)

[MandaKay]

Oh Kim - happy blog-iversary and anniversary with "Henry"!! Glad you had a great weekend! Sydney is so cute!

[Jen Higgins]

Sometimes, fish will die if you just dump them right into their new tank. They do better if you just drop the bag into the tank and let them float around like that for several hours before letting them out. I don't remember why, something about adjusting to water temp? Fish are tricky...at leat it's easy to dispose of them when they die! Anyway, good luck with Sidney!

[hairyshoefairy]

Oh, sadness for Olivia! How sweet that she already loved her new little fish so much that she cried when they died.

Though I do have to say, fish; ew, gross. We had some once. I'm not sad they're gone. LOL.

Happy blog-iversary and anniversary! Sounds like such a fun trip!

[Stefanie]

Not to divert from Sydney 2, but where did you get the oh so cute piggy from??

[Julieta]

Happy Blog-iversary!

My own mother, she who hates all things animal, always shouldered the responsibility of taking care of the pets we promised we would "take care of forever."--Even dogs, for which she has had a life long phobia!! God love her, when my rabbit, *Cotton*, died after an unfortunate encounter with one of the dogs, she cried right along with me....although I wonder now if her tears were tears of relief! ;-)

[Debbie]

Wow way too much excitement in your household for one day. That is why I don't want pets... how do you handle them going up to heaven? anyway, Happy Anniversary, and keep on bloggin... I really enjoy checking in on your happy family.
;)

[Beth]

wow that's quite a story - you're a hero-mommy!! i have a 3 1/2 year old and so far we haven't gone down the pet route; but i'm sure it'll happen at some point. thanks for sharing the tale, and happy blog-iversary!! :-) i enjoy your blog.

have a great day.

[Maureen]

I commend you on your willingness to go an extra mile for a goldfish for a little girl! I haven't had to deal with the death of a dearly beloved anything yet with my preschoolers & dread the day. I hope to be as lucky as you that it will be so innoculous as a little fish...

Thanks for sharing! It was a humourous story to celebrate your blog-iversary!

[Helen]

My heart breakes for poor Liv hiding behind the couch crying :(

I'm so glad you had a great get away with hubby! Can't believe you were so close yet so far away!! Can't wait for October!!

[Michelle]

Congrats on the anniversary and the year of blogging!!!

awww poor Sydney...my family has given up on fish..believe it or not the dogs are much easier to cuddle with hehe...and a great pet for teaching kids to be responsible (too bad that only works while they are puppies)

[Maegan]

Oh that is so pathetic! Poor little Liv. I thought that the fish were supposed to live at Grammy's house. Here's hoping that Sydney #2 will last a bit longer than #1. Yikes. Kind of bitter-sweet isn't it?

[jen harr]

I agree with Beth---You're quite a hero mommy!!
Yaaay for The Davenport! Isn't it scrumptious?! We stayed there when Craig interviewed for his job there! Oh so close to moving there now! just a couple of months! I'll have to keep a look out for your friend there!!
Take care!!

[Corvus]

Were they feeder fish- the goldfish petstores stock hundreds of that cost like ten cents each? If so, watch out for Sydney #2- feeder fish are typically just that -food for snakes and turtles and the like- and thus aren't bred (or raised/cared for) to last.

[Valerie]

ah the tramas of fishhood. my SIL had some, as well and when one croaked, she told her 4 & 2 YOs that the fish was lonely for his daddy and they flushed him, just like Nemo, so he could find him and live happily with the other fishies in the reef.
worked like a charm!!