Weekend Wrap Up

This weekend the family got our FIRST PET.  Their first, last, and only pet I might add.  The girls won goldfish at our Township Day's festivities.

Every year our town has a big day starting with a 5K race (I passed on this one), a parade down Main Street, then an all day festival with crafters, vendors, food, games, some rides, laser tag, live music, lip synching contests, and ends with fireworks.  It was probably the most beautiful weather you could conjure for a day like this.

We had to miss the parade, which devastated poor Pink because she had the opportunity to walk in it with her 'Girls on the Glow' group which is part of the Women's Tri Club.  With Dr. Fabulous coaching Tink's soccer that morning at the exact same time, it was just too daunting a task to drag CB out, park, ride the shuttle to the staging area for the parade, then wait around for 30-45 minutes on the street BEFORE the parade even started, then watch the parade, and find Pink at the end in the crowds.  Without the husband's extra hands, managing CB and Rella was proving to be a logistical puzzle with no good solution.

CB's special needs make our family stronger, happier, more loving but make no mistake - it sometimes keeps the other girls from doing many activities.  But ask Pink if she'd trade it for the world?  Nope - she wouldn't.  She loves her big sis. She recovered.

I was feeling so guilty about the whole parade thing, like maybe I should have just braved it all and gone to that parade with CB in tow and probably it would have worked out fine. But then, after all 6 of us went to the township day?  I realized I made a good choice staying home that morning without Dr. Fabulous there to help.  CB went ballistic at the festival.  It was that kind of crowd-taking-one-step-back-and-staring-at-you kind of ballistic.  It was the worst behavior I've seen from her in a long while - screaming, flailing, throwing rocks, hitting... just lookin' all sorts of wild and half-crazed.  

Dr. Fabulous took her home and I stayed with the three little girls.  I hate it when we have to separate like that.  It's the sucky side of being a non-typical family with a special child.  It weighs heavy on our hearts, but I guess every family has to make sacrifices in some way - a crabby toddler who needs a nap, a surly teen giving you attitude, someone coming down with the stomach flu.  This is just our situation, our sacrifice. You gotta roll with it.    

So, I guess that's why I had a moment of weakness and allowed for these fish to be brought home.

Dr Fabulous was not present for the winning of the goldfish, so he was quite shocked when we brought them home.  "We are a no-pet family" he said a bit shocked.  This is true - I concur 100%.  We have no pets, we want no pets, and the mere thought of bringing any creature into this house from a hermit crab to a dog is veto'ed without a nanosecond of consideration. Taking care of one more living creature is just not happening here.  Some days I feel like I can barely keep the human creatures in my home alive!  But, fish are fish.  You don't walk them, they don't shed, they aren't expensive. Ya know, how hard can it be?

Well, obviously harder than I thought.  The fish arrived home on Saturday and were named B.B., Candy, and Lia.  They swam in three little make-shift goldfish bowls. We were careful not to over feed them, but I did not want to invest in an aquarium and all sorts of other stuff.  I thought I remembered just having a goldfish in a bowl with unfiltered water when I was a preteen and that thing lived for months!  

Well, by Monday afternoon, Candy was dead.  By Tuesday morning, Lia joined her.  Only Pink's goldfish is left and there is this somber air around here. We're all just waiting for her to croak. I'm actually kinda sad and stressed about it, not relieved. I feel like a horrible fish killer.

  I don't know what we're doing wrong.  Probably lots of things.  

Obviously, don't ask us to pet sit. 

Or plant sit.  We kill those too. 

Good luck B.B.