Fishies fishies and more fishies.
Uhm... I don't know if this was a good thing or not, but we now own goldfish. As Piper mentioned we took the little ones to see Finding Nemo, and ever since Daikon and BB have been obsessed with fish. So today, while Piper and I were out getting things and stuff... (Yeah, I know, we have most of August, but we figured we might as well get the head start on our back to school supplies and stuff) we stopped into the pet store, mostly because we saw kittens in the window, and while neither of us were thinking we should get a kitten, we thought it might be fun to play with them.
So, we went in, and asked if we could just play with the kittens and the shop was agreeable, so we did that for a bit. Then, I saw the goldfish.
"Imagine if BB and Daikon were here?" I asked, pointing to the display.
Piper grinned. "I could see it now. 'NEMO NEMO NEMO!' We'd be hearing it all day."
"Yup. You know, they say fish are very relaxing..." I was thinking.
Clearly, Piper smelled the smoke. "Uh oh, I know that look, Beej."
"Oh?" I tipped my head to one side.
"Yes. You're thinking about getting fish, aren't you?"
"Well... a small tank of goldfish would brighten up Daikon and BB's room, you have to admit."
"But Beej, Daikon and BB are way too young to care for goldfish and Kia does not need something else to take care of in the house."
"I agree with that. But I'm also a relatively healthy, almost adult. I can certainly handle two tanks of fish."
"Two tanks?"
"Well, if I'm going to buy one for them, I'm going to buy one for me too. Fish are very soothing, there are nights when I really need to look at something soothing when I'm trying to go to sleep."
She looked at me for a moment, I think she was a little worried about my admitting sometimes I couldn't fall asleep easily. Later, I explained to her that no, it wasn't anything serious, just sometimes I have trouble sleeping. I think I convinced her. But, she also finally said she wouldn't mind if I got the fish if I promised on my honor to take care of them, so my mother wouldn't have to do it and to make sure to hide the food, so Daikon and BB didn't accidentally kill the poor fish by overfeeding.
So, we bought three ten gallon tanks, some gravel, air pumps, all the things you need for fish, and twelve of the prettiest little goldfish you ever saw and brought them home. (four fish for each tank. The girl at the petstore said that was a good number and would give all the fish plenty of room)
Mom had the boys and was over at Kev's place when we got home, so we set up both of the tanks, one in my room, one in Daikon and BB's room, and one in Piper's room. Piper has kindly agreed that she'll take care of her own fish.
You should have seen Daikon and BB when they saw the fish. "NEMO HOME! NEMO HERE! NEMO DADDY AND FRIENDS!" BB was doing most of the hollering. Daikon was just up by the tank, grinning happily. Never mind that Nemo isn't really a goldfish, the goldfish are close enough for BB and Daikon.
We both made sure to let Mom know these fish were not going to create any extra work for her.
Well, we've let them feed the fish so far. Yes, we both watched to make sure they didn't grab a huge handful of fishfood and throw it in. BB is convinced we're starving the fish, because after they eat all the food, they still look around for more. But, we're each keeping fishfood in our rooms, under lock and key, so the boys don't find it. We've also made sure that the top of the tank in the kid's room is securely latched, in case BB gets the brilliant idea that the fishies might like to swim in Mr. Bubbles. Yes, that idea has already been suggested, and we told them that no, Nemo and his pals don't like Mr. Bubbles, but we can't be too sure the kid won't think of it on his own. Or that Nemo might like some orange juice. Or that Nemo might appreciate having a Nintendo Game Boy thrown in the tank to play with.
Daikon can sit for hours on BB's bed and watch those fish. I thought at first he was just zoning, but if you watch his eyes, they're following the fish. And he's just grinning. BB likes to go up and put his face right up to the tank and go, "HI NEMO! HI FISHIES!" We're trying to break him of that habbit, because I would imagine if I were a fish, I'd hate suddenly seeing this.. enormous creature yelling and screaming.
We went to the library and got a lot of books on Goldfish. Some of them are even written so younger kids can understand them. We've looked up goldfish information on the net too, and we've all been spending some quality time either reading ourselves or reading to the boys about fish care.
Dad thinks we should have gotten those baby sharks.
But, I think goldfish are fine.
So, we went in, and asked if we could just play with the kittens and the shop was agreeable, so we did that for a bit. Then, I saw the goldfish.
"Imagine if BB and Daikon were here?" I asked, pointing to the display.
Piper grinned. "I could see it now. 'NEMO NEMO NEMO!' We'd be hearing it all day."
"Yup. You know, they say fish are very relaxing..." I was thinking.
Clearly, Piper smelled the smoke. "Uh oh, I know that look, Beej."
"Oh?" I tipped my head to one side.
"Yes. You're thinking about getting fish, aren't you?"
"Well... a small tank of goldfish would brighten up Daikon and BB's room, you have to admit."
"But Beej, Daikon and BB are way too young to care for goldfish and Kia does not need something else to take care of in the house."
"I agree with that. But I'm also a relatively healthy, almost adult. I can certainly handle two tanks of fish."
"Two tanks?"
"Well, if I'm going to buy one for them, I'm going to buy one for me too. Fish are very soothing, there are nights when I really need to look at something soothing when I'm trying to go to sleep."
She looked at me for a moment, I think she was a little worried about my admitting sometimes I couldn't fall asleep easily. Later, I explained to her that no, it wasn't anything serious, just sometimes I have trouble sleeping. I think I convinced her. But, she also finally said she wouldn't mind if I got the fish if I promised on my honor to take care of them, so my mother wouldn't have to do it and to make sure to hide the food, so Daikon and BB didn't accidentally kill the poor fish by overfeeding.
So, we bought three ten gallon tanks, some gravel, air pumps, all the things you need for fish, and twelve of the prettiest little goldfish you ever saw and brought them home. (four fish for each tank. The girl at the petstore said that was a good number and would give all the fish plenty of room)
Mom had the boys and was over at Kev's place when we got home, so we set up both of the tanks, one in my room, one in Daikon and BB's room, and one in Piper's room. Piper has kindly agreed that she'll take care of her own fish.
You should have seen Daikon and BB when they saw the fish. "NEMO HOME! NEMO HERE! NEMO DADDY AND FRIENDS!" BB was doing most of the hollering. Daikon was just up by the tank, grinning happily. Never mind that Nemo isn't really a goldfish, the goldfish are close enough for BB and Daikon.
We both made sure to let Mom know these fish were not going to create any extra work for her.
Well, we've let them feed the fish so far. Yes, we both watched to make sure they didn't grab a huge handful of fishfood and throw it in. BB is convinced we're starving the fish, because after they eat all the food, they still look around for more. But, we're each keeping fishfood in our rooms, under lock and key, so the boys don't find it. We've also made sure that the top of the tank in the kid's room is securely latched, in case BB gets the brilliant idea that the fishies might like to swim in Mr. Bubbles. Yes, that idea has already been suggested, and we told them that no, Nemo and his pals don't like Mr. Bubbles, but we can't be too sure the kid won't think of it on his own. Or that Nemo might like some orange juice. Or that Nemo might appreciate having a Nintendo Game Boy thrown in the tank to play with.
Daikon can sit for hours on BB's bed and watch those fish. I thought at first he was just zoning, but if you watch his eyes, they're following the fish. And he's just grinning. BB likes to go up and put his face right up to the tank and go, "HI NEMO! HI FISHIES!" We're trying to break him of that habbit, because I would imagine if I were a fish, I'd hate suddenly seeing this.. enormous creature yelling and screaming.
We went to the library and got a lot of books on Goldfish. Some of them are even written so younger kids can understand them. We've looked up goldfish information on the net too, and we've all been spending some quality time either reading ourselves or reading to the boys about fish care.
Dad thinks we should have gotten those baby sharks.
But, I think goldfish are fine.