My son’s fish recently died. Well, if I’m being completely honest, my husband killed it by accident (sorry, honey!).
You see, it all started when we realized that the water in the fish tank looked a bit nasty. There was a sort of film laying on the top. So, we knew it was time to clean the tank. My husband picked the boys up from school the next day, came home, and started cleaning the tank. The fish, Pistachio, was placed in a bowl of water to keep him safe until the tank was ready for him.
My very well-intended husband, thought that our dear little Betta fish could do with water that was maybe a bit warmer than usual. So, he put the warm water into the tank after it was clean, and put Pistachio back in. Everything was fine until, my husband noticed that Pistachio was just sitting at the bottom of the tank inside his little Sponge Bob Square Pants pineapple house and not moving. Or breathing. Or moving. At All.
He came to me and said, “Ummm…I think I made the water too warm. Pistachio might be sleeping, but he might not be…”
I took a look in the tank, came back out of my son’s room, and said, “I think he’s sleeping permanently. That fish is not going to wake up.”
So, we had a choice to make. Do we tell our son and devastate his sweet little nine-year-old heart (Because he REALLY loved that fish). OR do we attempt a pet swap. You know, running out and buying one that looks exactly the same, and swapping it for the dead one and pray our son didn’t notice.
We went for the pet swap. Call us chickens; call us bad parents; call us whatever you want. It’s what we felt was the best option.
The problem was, we couldn’t do it that night. We had to wait until the next day when our son was at school. We prayed he wouldn’t notice in the meantime. Fortunately, Pistachio frequently sat inside his little pineapple house, so it wasn’t unusual for him to be there.
The evening went well, and our little man didn’t notice anything was wrong. The next morning was the same. He went to school, I went to work, and my husband ran out to the pet store. Fortunately, he was able to find another Betta fish that looked exactly like Pistachio. The only difference is that he’s a little bit smaller. So, my husband took the new Pistachio home and got him all set up in the tank.
Then we waited…
My husband picked the boys up from school and brought them home. I had told my oldest what happened because if he had noticed on his own, he would have said something. And he would NOT have been subtle about it. He sent me a message when he got home that the new Pistachio looked good and that his brother hadn’t noticed.
When I got home from work, my youngest was next door playing, so I went to check out the new fish. The size difference was definitely noticeable, but he was pretty much the exact same coloring. I can’t tell you how important that was. My son picked out a fish that was green just because he wanted to name it Pistachio. So if the coloring had been off even a tiny bit, it would have been a disaster.
Not gonna lie, I felt a bit on edge all night wondering if our son would notice the switch. But, somehow, he did not. He fed Pistachio, watched him swim around, and never said a word. And, believe me, if he had noticed, he would have made it very clear.
Our pet switch was successful!
Do I feel proud of what we did? Honestly, there is a part of me that feels guilty. But, my son is happy and that is what matters most. His heart would most definitely have been broken if he realized that Pistachio died. And if there’s one thing about parenting that I struggle with, it’s seeing my children hurting. So, we made the switch and now we are all happy.
