Pilot wrote:
For some reason, your story seems a lot sadder
I appreciate that. The first round of fish was a gift from a niece for my daughter. It wasn't a well thought out gift but I ain't gonna flush live fish down the toilet so my daughter tried...and failed.
The second round, to replace the first round, was likewise a disaster. But my daughter had gotten a bit used to me pulling dead fish from the tank by this time so it was not nearly as traumatic. And my mother, bless her, explained to my daughter that goldfish are born to die. That 99 out of 100 don't make it past a week so deal with it. Oddly, this did seem to make it easier on my daughter.
So by the third round of fish, we had finally figured out that my wife was dumping half a can of fish food in the tank each day and she was responsible for the dead fish. Unfortunately, she had already killed four of these five, but like I said, Captain is a trooper.
At first my wife was a little upset at my mother's rather brusque dismissal of our previous family pets. However, because my daughter accepted the explanation, it allowed my wife to avoid taking responsibility for the pisceacide and not earn the eternal wrath of her own daughter. So long as my daughter believes in the fragility of a goldfishes grasp on life, my wife can defer her mea culpa.
So, at the end of the day, balance is again achieved in the non ego man household and I take now responsibility for the family's new pet: Captain the goldfish.
