The Carnies Win Again

Yesterday I took my son to the local carnival and he won a goldfish. Our first pet. To say he was "excited" would be as understated as saying he "likes" candy. He named it immediately (Ollie) and began speaking about it lovingly. All I could think about was the time and money this fish could cost me.

Winning the fish cost me only $2 (thanks to luck and W's ping pong ball throwing accuracy), but on the ride home I was forced to stop and buy fish food. And shop for a fish bowl (which we couldn't find). And then my son said "Mommy! What about toys for my fish?" That's where I drew the line. No toys for the goldfish, at least right now.

We went home and put Ollie in a large water pitcher with some food and went off to our family BBQ where W proudly told everyone about his new pet and offered his condolences that introductions couldn't be done immediately ("...because Ollie can't travel on vacations like dogs"). At the end of the BBQ W went off to his Gran'mama's house for a special weekend with her. The rest of us came back home and prepared to watch Ollie swim around before bedtime. However...

B ran in the house and yelled "WHY is Ollie just lying there?!" as N and I made our way through the front door. I don't have to tell you what this meant. That's right, immediate repacking into the car to travel to Petco where we picked up a new Ollie, a brother for Ollie (dubbed Strawberry), a 2 gallon fish bowl, and the key ingredient whose absence had been the cause of Ollie the I's demise: Aquasafe water conditioner. It's a good thing B is too young to understand that Ollie was dead (because we don't want him telling his brother). We "woke" Ollie up and put him in the new bowl with Strawberry and $30 and a few hours of scrambling later, all was well. Great carnival. Yay, we now have pets to care for. Yay.

We took a photo of Ollie the Second's new brother and home and sent it to W at his gran'mama's house. It seems to have fooled W into believing that Ollie the Second is Ollie the First, although W did say to Gran'mama, "In person, Ollie has a little more yellow to him." Damn. He's right of course. Ollie the original was more yellowish. I guess this is one of those parenting instances where W's attention to detail and sharp memory may not serve us well.