RIP Fishy...you were the best fish

On Tuesday, January 15th, 2008, our dearly beloved blue Beta Fish, Fishy passed away. It's quite a little story, and it goes something like this:

It should be said before I start that Fishy was one year old and had been sick. He was quite lethargic and not eating. I called the Aquarium just last week to see what this could mean. The young man on the other end of the phone told me it sounded like he was constipated.

Okay....

"So, what do I do for that?", I asked.

"Well, you could try to give him a pea.", replied the nice aquarium-worker-guy tells me.

"A pea??!!...how in the name of God do I do that??"

"Just take the outer shell off and try to give him a little. Apparently that works."

Needless to say, I didn't do this. If he's not eating his yummy Beta-Fish food, he's not going to eat a pea out of my hands. So the guy said that Fishy could go 3 weeks without eating. Perhaps he was over fed and if we just don't feed him, it'll work itself out.

Sold...I'll try that.

Which brings us to present day. Tuesday night, I get the boys out of the tub and take Sean into his room to get into his jammies. I look on his dresser to see how Fishy is and he's upside down....like wedged in the corner of the tank with is head facing down and his tail fins pointing up.

I think to myself, okay...this doesn't look good. So I say to Sean: "Hunny...um...I think Fishy's dead."

"Huh?...no, Mummy, he's just hiding. Get him out of there and you'll see. Are his eyes closed?"

"Um...well ...", and at this point, Ryan walks in and says: "Ooooo, is he dead? Can I see him?"

Friggin' Ryan and his insatiable curiosity!!!

"Okay, let's just see if Mummy get Fishy out of where he is and we'll see what's going on here.", I say, trying to remain a bit hopeful. I get him un-stuck and sure enough, little Fishy is gone. I look at Sean who has this look on his face that has already broken my heart into a zillion pieces and I tell him that Fishy has indeed died. His little face goes into the "ugly cry" and he's devastated. I'm trying to console him and Ryan's behind him, still wanting to see and analyzing now; "Ooo, Mummy, look...he's turned grey!" Ryan, please stop talking, I'm screaming in my brain. I leave the brothers to console one another while I go fetch something to collect Fishy's remains. Where the hell is Kenny when I need him? Why is he working evenings?? I hate this! What the hell am I going to get to scoop up this fish??

Sufficiently armed to remove the fish, I scoop Fishy out of the tank. Now they want to touch him, so they do and Sean starts to cry more. I walk to the bathroom where I take my place sitting on the side of the tub. Sean and Ryan follow. I'm sitting there, Fishy in hand and I ask if anyone wants to say anything nice before we send Fishy to heaven. Ryan clasps his hands and says what a great fish he was. Sean's still crying and says: "Can I just keep him for a while?"

"Why, hunny?", I ask, not sure I want to hear the answer.

"Because *sob* I can't think of *sob* anything to say right now and I want to say something nice *sob*!!!"

"Oh, hunny...we really should send Fishy along. Snaily (who died last year) really misses Fishy and I know is anxious to see him again. And, Grampy Preston has always wanted a Beta fish. He's going to be so happy to be able to take care of him up in heaven, okay??"

"*sob"...Okay!!"

So, I drop Fishy into the flush and send him along his way. Sean is so upset now...really sobbing. I hate to see my babies upset so I have a bit of a tear in my eye which, of course Ryan notices and asks me; "Mummy, are you crying?" at which point I am because now that Ryan thinks I'm crying, he's started to cry too. So there's the three of us, crying in a huddle when I hear Sean say something but I couldn't understand him.

"What's that, baby?", I asked.

"He *sob* was one of a *sob* kind!!"

don't laugh, Kelly...don't laugh...just hug him!

So we all had our say, and I'm still sitting there holding the seat to the toilet down because I don't want the boys to look in to see if he's gone because, well...what if he didn't flush right away and came back up? That would NOT be good. So I'm wiping tears and giving hugs and kisses when Ryan, who is by now over the whole sentimental thing, looks at me and says:

"Mummy, are we gonna flush Princess when she dies?"

"Uh, baby...what do you think?"

giggle..."Nooooo."

And with that, I sent them on their way. Sean had composed himself well enough to ask me:

"Can we go get another fish tomorrow?"

And with that, we said goodbye to Fishy and after school the next day, we said hello to Jeffrin...our new red Beta fish.

My Casanova!

It's a chilly Friday night. It's nearly 10pm and I've just tucked the boys in after an hour of cuddling on the couch and watching Bugs Bunny. They don't have school in the morning and they get to stay up a bit (quite a bit) later than normal. I gave Ryan his lovins and tucked him in, then gave Sean his and came to the computer and in that time, I'm sure they're both out.

It's because of the conversation that I just had with my Sean that I am sitting here now. He makes me laugh so hard and after the conversation we just had, I had to get down here and write it down before I forget what was said.

I was asking Sean about the kids at school, if there were any bullies, etc. (Ryan seems to be having some issues, so I thought I'd just check in on my Sean as well, since that topic had reared its ugly head). For the record, there's just one kid who seems to kick him under the table at school, but I'm not worried about him...Sean can certainly handle himself. So, that out of the way, as Sean lay in my arms, his back to me so I can smell the back of his head (my most favourite scent ever) I asked him a question I've never asked him before:

"Sean, had a little girl ever tried to kiss you?"

There's a pause.

"Well, there's only two girls I like at my school." (he's not going to answer my question)

"Oh, yeah? Who's that?", I ask.

"Molly and Kira. Molly's this girl and there's Kira (he says with a slight lilt to his voice) and she's in Mrs. Sutherland's class and when I see her I do this..." With this, he turns, and rests on his elbows and looks at me with that killer smile of his and gives me a wink, and then quickly assumes his previous position.

I am now laughing....and laughing. I can't possibly let this one go.

"SEAN!!..did you just tell me you winked at a little girl at school?", I ask.

"Yup....like this...", and he begins to demostrate again, but this time with a giggle.

Still laughing, I hold him a little tighter. Look out little girls of Riverview....Casanova has discovered his charm!