My kids want a pet.  Let me clarify that one wants a dog and the other wants fish.  My husband and I are just not “pet” people.  I enjoy other people’s animals, but when it comes to the responsibility of having a pet of my own, I’m just not ready for all that entails. 

My youngest son, Andrew, has been asking for a goldfish for months.  Both my husband and I thought this would be a fleeting thought, but much to our surprise Andrew’s desire for a fish kept getting stronger.  We finally agreed that if he wanted, Andrew could get a goldfish for his birthday.

Well, after months of anticipation, it was “goldfish day.”  With great excitement, we headed to Petco as soon as the store opened.  Unbeknownst to me, goldfish require slightly more care than a bowl full of water.  As it turns out, goldfish are best suited for an aquarium with a water pump and filter to keep the environment suitable.  Also, goldfish can grow to be up to a foot long and 5-6” in diameter.  In order for the fish to be healthy and happy, it is best for them to live in a 10 gallon tank.  That is for only ONE fish.  If you want more than one fish, you need an even larger tank.

I attempted to talk Andrew out of getting a goldfish and get something smaller that could live in a nice little fish bowl.  He wanted nothing to do with my suggestion, so the next thing I knew; I was leaving Petco with a 10 gallon starter aquarium. 

Unfortunately, we weren’t able to take our new pet home just yet.  Our awesome salesman, Brendon, recommended we wait about 24 hours before bringing our fish home, but Andrew would have nothing to do with that recommendation.  Brendon could see the disappointment in Andrew’s face, so he suggested that we get our tank set up and let the water pump run for a few hours.  We could bring Goldy home later in the day, as goldfish are pretty hardy fish and adapt to new conditions easily.

After doing as Brendon suggested and bringing a sample of our water to be tested, it was deemed safe for Goldy to come home with us.  Andrew was over the moon!  After Goldy got situated in his new tank, Andrew sat in front of the tank for hours watching him swim.  I even caught him talking to him which was so cute!

Later that night we headed out to the Cardinal’s game.  During the entire game Andrew talked about Goldy non-stop.  He was anxious to get home to his new pet.  Unfortunately, our arrival home came with some tragedy.  Goldy was dead.  Andrew was devastated.  The whole situation was just awful.  As a parent, it was so hard to witness.  Watching a child’s heart break is just gut wrenching.  I quickly promised Andrew we would return first thing in the morning to Petco and get a new Goldy. 

Upon our return to Petco, we found out that we probably didn’t do anything wrong with Goldy, but rather he was probably in shock or maybe even injured.  Goldy had arrived into the store earlier in the day that we brought him home and getting used to two new tanks in one day just might have been too much for him. 

After some browsing the tanks, Andrew decided he didn’t want a goldfish this time.  “No one can replace Goldy,” he told me.  So we ended up with three new, much smaller fish.  I was quite nervous to get three fish at once as I don’t think I could handle any more heartbreak and fish funerals. 

Well, I’m happy to report it has been a week and all three fish are still alive!  Andrew enjoys sitting in front of the tank and watching his fish swim around.  If all goes well, we plan to add a couple more fish to our tank in a few months.  Until then, we are just going to focus on keeping these three alive.