His fish died
By dorannmwin
@dorannmwin (36392)
United States
December 27, 2012 11:06pm CST
About a year and a half ago, my best friend's mother gave one of her two Betta fish to Paul because Paul was taken with him from the first time that he saw her pretty blue fish. She told him that if she ever decided to give him away, Paul would be the one that she would give him to.
For the last year and a half Paul did a great job of taking care of his fish. He fed him and helped us to keep the tank clean and everything, until this morning. This morning when they woke up and Paul was getting ready to feed Blue Baron, he was floating sideways in his tank.
I told the children that they had a choice between flushing him (that is what my parents always did with my fish when they died) or they could bury him. Paul said that he would rather bury him than to flush him. So the kids went outside to dig a little grave for the fish and Paul just started to go crazy hollering for his fish to wake up and telling us that he was just sleeping. Of course both his sister and I knew the truth.
We did finally get Blue Baron buried and they made a memorial rock for him to sit over his grave as well. I also told Paul that we would get a new fish in the next few days and he could pick out our new fish.
Have you ever had a pet die? If you've had a child that had a pet die, was it something that they took really hard? Do you think that Paul is ever going to get over the loss of his first fish?
1 person likes this
7 responses
@ungu89 (1999)
• Malaysia
28 Dec 12
i'm sorry that you kid lost his fish.
i know he will get over about it later.
i don't have kids, i will have loss my cat few month ago.
i really miss him.
when i miss i just look the old photo of him
i got a lot of them because i love to take his photo. especially when he was sleeping
@dorannmwin (36392)
• United States
28 Dec 12
I really don't think that we ever truly get over the loss of one of our pets because they are a life that is a part of our life just like the people that are a part of our lives.
I do find comfort in the fact that I do have pictures of the pets that I've lost in the course of my life.
@nyssa102 (747)
• United States
24 Mar 13
I am very sorry for your loss. I've had bettas and they are very intelligent. I even got one of those portable plastic small animal/reptile tanks that you would get at pet stores. I would take my betta for a 'walk' outside or have them sit next to me while I surfed, so he could watch the pc screen. I know it sounds sentimental, but I swear he would actually look eager for these 'walks' and wait for me. He lived for a very long time. One of his favorite foods was a pea. I'd take a pea and squeeze the skin off and give it to him. He'd race and really dig into that pea. It was a hint I got off the internet, and He really did enjoy them.
@dorannmwin (36392)
• United States
25 Mar 13
I would have never thought of taking him for a walk, but I can certainly tell you that the kids always did love to play with him through the walls of the tank. As soon as the weather outside gets more constantly warm we are going to add another Betta to our family.
@jillhill (37353)
• United States
28 Dec 12
He will...but I am sure it was shocker! I guess we get attached to anything we take care of...My kids had a dog die when they were little..her name was snuggles and she was a cutie. They all took it hard...very hard. Especially my son. Even now years later he talks about his dog Snuggles...I never knew what an attachment he did have to her.
@dorannmwin (36392)
• United States
31 Dec 12
Blue Baron was not the first pet that we've had to die. However, I believe that this has been a lot harder on Paul because of the fact that the Betta was the first pet that we'd ever had that was really his pet.
@dawnald (85137)
• Shingle Springs, California
7 Jan 13
We've lost a few pets. Dearra takes it the hardest. They do get over it eventually, but if they were really attached to the pet, they never forget.
@dorannmwin (36392)
• United States
9 Jan 13
I actually have to say that this is one of the things that makes it seem odd. You see, we've lost one dog and two cats in the past and none of those really seemed to have a huge impact on Paul. However when it came to the fish, he was absolutely devastated. It was just a quite different reaction from what I expected.
@savypat (20216)
• United States
28 Dec 12
I think this is why fish are some of the very best pets for small children. They do have shorter lives and this can be explained to a child. Also explain that because their lives are shorter, each moment in the fish's life is very important.
When my children were young, we lived in the country, there many things are born, live and die so they just grew up accustomed to this cycle. Your son will never forget his first fish, but then would you really want him to? Blessings
@dorannmwin (36392)
• United States
28 Dec 12
Having had Blue Baron as a part of our lives for a while, I do think that fish are a great pet for a child to have as their own. They really don't require as much as other animals and children are able to learn a lot of lessons from their fish. Not only did Paul have the opportunity to learn about taking care of an animal, he also had the opportunity to learn about the circle of life as well.
@Tushavi (2076)
• Karachi, Pakistan
29 Dec 12
awwwww! I'm feeling sorry for your son Paul I wish he got a better fish soon, yes once I bought a cuckoo for my nephew, a cuckoo couple but smarter than me, lol...The guy who sells cuckoos have no extra cage so I picks them up in hands, as you know birds wanted to free themselves so 1 cuckoo slowly bites on my hands when I panicked they fly away, when I returns home I excused my nephews & tells him atleast they are free now why not we feels happy for their freedom??? aren't we???
@dorannmwin (36392)
• United States
31 Dec 12
This kind of reminds me of a story that one of my best friends told me about his daughter. He said that he woke up one morning and his daughter wanted him to go outside and catch a bird for her because she wanted a bird. Well, instead he took the last money that he had in his pocket and went to the pet shop and bought a bird for his daughter. This friend of mine would do anything that he could for the kids and it doesn't matter if it was his kids, his nieces and nephews or even my children to be honest.
He's told me several times that he loves my daughter and son because of the fact that they are my children.
@caopaopao (12395)
• China
28 Dec 12
It's good that your children buried the fish instead of flushing it. Children like pets very much. Two years ago , our neighbour gave my daughter a hamster, it has golden hair, clean and beautiful. My daughter feeds it often, just two weeks ago, when my daughter went to see it, it's stiff. My daughter was so afraid and yelled at me, I threw it away, i promised her I would buy her a new pet . It's a pity that we didn't bury it, it's a life. It's a good chance to teach children how to love pets. Maybe next time, I will bury the pets if they die.
But I am glad to say that everything is Ok with my daughter, yeah, she is waiting her new pet, i think she has got over the loss of the hamster.
Thanks for sharing.
